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Throughout February, a measles outbreak has been growing in West Texas. The potentially deadly disease, once eliminated from the United States in terms of its continuous transmission, has been making a comeback in recent years as vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaccine movements rise. Unfortunately, this outbreak has now had deadly consequences. Earlier this week, it was reported that one unvaccinated Texas child has died as a result of the outbreak. The unfortunate event, along with the continued spread of the disease, has left many asking whether they need a measles vaccine booster shot. Heres what you need to know. About the measles vaccine The good news is that there is an effective vaccine against measles, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That vaccine is generally packaged with vaccines for other diseases, giving you protection from a variety of illnesses. A measles vaccine is part of an MMR shot, which stands for measles, mumps, and rubella. The measles vaccine is also part of the MMRV shot, which stands for measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (chickenpox). The vaccines help protect against all three or four diseases, respectively. To receive maximum protection from measles, youll need two doses of either the MMR shot or the MMRV shot. The dosing schedule depends on the age of the person. In children, the CDC says the recommended schedule for the MMR vaccine is to have the first dose between 1215 months of age and the second dose between 46 years of age. If children are getting the MMRV shot instead, the CDC says the first dose should also be given between 1215 months of age and the second dose between 46 years of age. However, the agency notes that the second dose of MMRV can also be given 3 months after 1st dose. As for older children, adolescents, and adults, the CDC says those who do not have evidence of immunity need 1 or 2 doses of MMR vaccine. Should I get a measles booster shot if Ive already been fully vaccinated? Its important to note that before making any medical decisions, you should always check with a doctor who is familiar with your unique medical history. As noted by CBS, most people who have had two doses of the recommended vaccine will be protected as much as possible throughout their lives. However, one group of people would likely benefit from another course of the vaccine. This group includes those who were first vaccinated against measles before 1968 and do not know which vaccine they received. As the CDC explains, this is because, before 1968, some people received measles vaccines that contained an inactive (killed) strain of the virus, which was ineffective. Modern measles vaccines use a live strain of the virus to produce maximum protection in the body. People who were vaccinated prior to 1968 with either inactivated (killed) measles vaccine or measles vaccine of unknown type should be revaccinated with at least one dose of live attenuated measles vaccine, the CDC states. This recommendation is intended to protect those who may have received killed measles vaccine, which was available in 19631967 and was not effective Is the measles vaccine safe and effective? Health authorities including the CDC say the measles vaccine is both safe and effective. When it comes to the efficacy rate of the MMR vaccine, the numbers are very good. The CDC says one dose of the MMR vaccine is 93% effective against measles. The efficacy increases to 97% after the second shot. Furthermore, the health authorities say the MMR vaccine is safe for those who are breastfeeding and that there is no connection between autism and the vaccine. There is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism, the CDC notes. Scientists in the United States and other countries have carefully studied the MMR vaccine. None has found a link between autism and the MMR vaccine.” While getting the vaccine does not fully protect you from measles, vaccinated individuals who do contract the disease generally experience milder symptoms and are also less likely to spread measles to others, according to the agency. In a February 27 memo addressing the Texas outbreak that has killed one so far, the CDC says, Vaccination remains the best defense against measles infection.”
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E-Commerce
Even as paid family leave has stalled at the federal level, a growing number of states have taken up the issue in recent years. Thirteen states and Washington, D.C., have now passed legislation that makes paid leave mandatory, while a handful of other states have also introduced voluntary systems that leave it to private insurance companies and employers to opt into the benefit. Despite those legislative wins, however, a new report by the nonprofit Moms First and McKinsey indicates that many eligible workers in states with mandatory paid leave are not taking advantage of their access to the benefit. The analysis focused on the paid-leave programs in New York, New Jersey, and Californiawhich were among the first states to offer the benefitand also surveyed over 2,000 parents in those states. Who is eligible for paid leave The vast majority of working parents were eligible for paid leave, in spite of the variation in state-specific requirements for wages or time worked. But the report found that only 40% of eligible parents actually used their paid-leave benefits in 2022, which were worth an estimated $6,000 to $10,000 per person. The families that did take advantage of those policies reported being nearly twice as satisfied with paid leave than they were with other state benefits; at the same time, parents were less likely to take paid leave when compared to similar government offerings like unemployment benefits. Even as more states have adopted laws mandating paid leave, most workers across the country still lack access to it: As of 2024, only 31% of full-time employees in the U.S. had paid leave. There are a number of reasons why utilization of paid leave may be lower than expected, given how critical the benefit can be for families. First is a lack of awareness, which might explain why parents are more likely to use unemployment benefits; of the respondents who did not use paid leave, 60% said they did not know it was available. Why workers don’t take paid leave Other parents were aware of the benefit but didn’t feel comfortable using it, either due to concerns over job security or career progression. “I would have taken [paid family leave] if I could afford it and wouldnt lose my job,” one New York-based mother told Moms First. Low-wage workers were especially likely to worry about whether they could afford to take leaveeven in New York, where the paid leave law explicitly promises job protection. In some cases, there were concerns over wage replacement, since paid leave laws typically only cover part of an employee’s salary (anywhere from 60% to 90%, depending on how much they earn). But the report also indicates that the very disparities that make paid leave so important play a role in why many parents are not fully utilizing the benefit. Since women are more likely to shoulder a greater share of childcare responsibilities, there are fewer women who are eligible for paid leave. In some cases, they may not meet the wage or time worked criteria mandated by state law. (Overall labor participation is also higher for men than it is for women.) In many cases, the cost of childcare can lead one parent to drop out of the workforce and stay home with their childrena burden that disproportionately falls on women. On the other hand, while more men are eligible for paid leave benefits, they are less inclined to use themhalf as likely, in fact. (The unused parental leave captured by the report came to a total of six million weeks, with men accounting for four million.) A number of male respondents actually noted that they didnt think it was necessary to take leave if their partner was already doing so. Race, too, seems to play a role in how widely paid leave is utilized: On the whole, Latino and Black parents are less likely to be eligible for the benefit than white and Asian parents. When they do have access to it, however, Black parents are the most likely to use paid leave. Administrative challenges Another significant hurdle is the administrative burden of applying for paid leave. While many parents who used paid leave expressed satisfaction with the benefit after the fact, almost 60% who opted out said they were frustrated by the application process. Even when paid leave is provided by the state, the vast majority of parents relied on their employer to help guide them through a complicated process, which is likely easier to navigate at large companies that are better positioned to assist their workers. In the absence of a federal lawwhich lost traction after the pandemicadvocates for paid leave have pushed for legislation at the state level, leading many progressive states to adopt mandatory policies over the past decade. But the Moms First report makes clear that without increasing utilization of paid leave, countless parents are not reaping the benefits, from offsetting the steep cost of childcare to improving health outcomes for mothers and children.
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E-Commerce
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has dropped several enforcement actions against companies like Capital One and Rocket Homes, just weeks under new leadership and turmoil at the agency caused by orders from Trump administration.In notices of voluntary dismissals filed on Thursday, the CFPB dropped lawsuits it had brought against Capital One, Rocket Homes, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, and others.Those suits were all filed under the agency’s previous director, Rohit Chopra, who President Donald Trump fired just weeks ago. The CPFB has since plunged into turmoilwith the White House later ordering it to halt nearly all its work. The administration also closed the agency’s headquarters and moved to fire scores of its workers.Trump has defended his administration’s broadside against the CFPBincluding recent claims about the agency being “set up to destroy people.” But supporters of the agency stress that it provides crucial oversight and protects consumers from being vulnerable to predatory business practices.Trump nominated former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation board member Jonathan McKernan to be agency’s new director, who faced a Senate committee hearing Thursday.The CFPB is tasked with creating rules and taking enforcement actions to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices by a wide range of businesses and other institutions. Since its founding, the bureau has said that it’s obtained nearly $20 billion in financial relief for U.S. consumersin the form of canceled debts, compensation, and reduced loans.Legal action from the CFPB often involves banks, mortgage servicers, credit card companies, student loan processors, payday lenders, money transfer providers, credit reporting agencies, and debt collectors.Last month, prior to Trump taking office, the CFPB sued Capital One for allegedly misleading consumers about its offerings for high-interest savings accountswith the bureau accusing the banking giant of “cheating” customers out of more than $2 billion in lost interest payments as a result. Meanwhile, its January 6 suit against Vanderbilt Mortgage accused the lender of pushing consumers into loans they couldn’t afford to buy manufactured homes. And the CFPB’s December complaint against Rocket Homes alleged a “kickback scheme” from the company to illegally steer prospective borrowers to Rocket Mortgage, which operates under the same parent company, and away from other competitors.But all those cases will now be discontinued with Thursday’s actions. Court filings in the Rocket Homes case notes that the “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, dismisses this action, with prejudice, against all Defendants.” Dismissing a case with prejudice means that it cannot be refiled. Similar wording was used in the dismissals of the CFPB’s Capital One and Vanderbilt Mortgage suits.In a statement Thursday, Rocket Homes welcomed its dismissal and said “it is good to see the truth come to light.” The company called the suit “an empty claim brought forth by former CFPB director Chopra for the sole purpose of seeing his name in headlines during the final days in public office.”Capital One welcomed the CFPB’s Thursday decision, too, noting that it had “strongly disputed” the action filed against the company. The Associated Press also reached out to Vanderbilt Mortgage for comment.The CPFB isn’t the only federal agency to signal a pullback on previous enforcement action under the new administration. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, has either closed or paused legal action against several cryptocurrency platforms in recent weeks, as the regulator tries to present itself as more crypto-friendly under Trump.Earlier this month, Binance and the SEC filed a joint motion to pause its high-profile lawsuit against the crypto exchange. And both Coinbase and Robinhood have said that cases against them have also been dismissed or closed, although the SEC declined to immediately comment further. Wyatte Grantham-Philips, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
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