By

August 9, 2026 / 3:41 PM EDT

/ CBS News

Add CBS News on Google

Washington — Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, said on Sunday that "I trust the science" on vaccines, as measles cases have risen to their highest levels in 35 years, sparking concern among some parents about their children returning to school this fall. "I think that parents,for most kids, especially for the measles vaccines, the DTP, all the standard childhood vaccines, it's very important that parents vaccinate their kids," Bhattacharya said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."Bhattacharya, who's also been serving as acting CDC director in recent months, said "I'm giving my recommendation — I've vaccinated my kids.""I think if you want to protect your kids from these sort of preventable diseases, yes, you should vaccinate your kids," he said. "But it is even more important that these kids go to school."Bhattacharya pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic and the loss of trust in public health officials and institutions. He argued that it was a "tremendous mistake" to cause parents to fear sending their kids to school at the time. And as he encouraged parents to vaccinate their children, he said "it is a mistake, and it contributes to lack of public trust if you sort of fearmonger around, 'Oh, if you send your kids to school, well, you might be around unvaccinated kids.'""That's a tremendous mistake," he said. "You vaccinate your kids, you can protect your kids from those risks, whatever they are."As measles cases have risen to their highest rates in decades in recent years, just 10 states had measles coverage rates among kindergarteners above the 95% threshold required for so-called herd immunity during the 2024-2025 school year, according to the CDC. When pressed by Margaret Brennan about what the administration can do, like a national push to share widely HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s message that he shared on CNN last week that parents should get their kids vaccinated against measles, Bhattacharya said "I've done my best to try to do that."