Are you protected against measles? This chart can help.

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Measles continues to spread in the US.

Not even a quarter of the way through the year, public health officials have verified 301 cases in 14 states, including Vermont and Rhode Island, as of last Friday, according to the CDC. In Texas, which has the worst outbreak, an unvaccinated 6-year-old girl became the country’s first measles death since 2015. The case of an unvaccinated New Mexico adult who tested positive after they died is being investigated. And if cases continue to grow at the current rate, 2025 is on pace to be the worst measles year since 1992.

The measles vaccine — called the MMR shot because it also protects against mumps and rubella — has been widely available for decades. Its widespread adoption for children had effectively eliminated measles in the US by 2000.

But vaccine skepticism, which worsened during the COVID pandemic, has caused childhood immunization rates to fall nationwide, weakening the herd immunity that protects against outbreaks. While much of New England remains in the top 10 states by measles vaccination rate, Vermont’s rate is middling and New Hampshire’s is even lower. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s top health official, has also downplayed the current measles outbreak at times and spread falsehoods about the virus.

The outbreaks have some Americans who have already gotten the MMR vaccine wondering if they’re protected. The answer largely comes down to when you were born, as this table shows:

These general guidelines, which are based on the CDC’s recommendations, come with some asterisks. For example, if you’ve come down with measles at any point, you probably don’t need a booster. Your doctor can test your blood for immunity.

If you don’t know whether you’ve been vaccinated, or which version of the shot you got, ask your health care provider, which may have your medical records. If you still aren’t sure, experts say there’s no harm in getting another MMR dose just in case. The CDC also recommends that Americans born before 1957 or who have gotten just one dose get another if they work in health care, are in college, travel internationally, or work with immunocompromised people.

What about children younger than 12 to 15 months, the age at which the CDC recommends that kids get the first MMR shot? Experts told my colleague Emily Spatz that it’s best to wait to vaccinate until your kid is a year old. If you’re living or traveling near an outbreak, you could ask your doctor about vaccinating them at as young as 6 months. But your child should still get the recommended two-dose series once they’re older (the second dose is targeted between ages 4 and 6, before kids enter school).

People who are allergic to the MMR vaccine, pregnant, or taking certain medications shouldn’t get it. But if you’ve been recommended for the vaccine and haven’t gotten it, you should. The two-dose regimen is 97 percent effective at preventing infections and generally has minimal side effects.

True, many measles infections are mild, causing symptoms like a cough or runny nose. But measles is extremely contagious. Getting sick can spread the virus to more vulnerable people, including babies too young to get vaccinated, and cause high fever, skin rashes, pneumonia, and brain inflammation. About 17 percent of people infected this year have been hospitalized, and younger children are at higher risk of severe illness. An infection can also hurt your health down the road by weakening your immune system. Kids who survive can, in rare cases, develop brain damage or a fatal nervous-system disease.

“Don’t tell me the measles is trivial,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, told my colleague Kay Lazar. “It’s a nasty virus that produces really serious disease that you can’t just blow off.”

🧩 2 Down: Door sign | 🌞 49º Sunny skies

Boston and New England

• Immigration raids: ICE and other federal agents arrested a man outside a Market Basket in Chelsea, and three contract workers were arrested en route to a Needham job site.
• A ‘precarious position’: A legal expert said she knew of no other high-profile case where the US deported someone because of photos on their phone, as they did to a Rhode Island doctor with a visa who had photos of Hezbollah fighters.
• In his shell: The blogger known as “Turtleboy” pleaded not guilty to the latest charge of witness intimidation lodged against him in the Karen Read case.
• Health wars: Mass General Brigham will pour $400 million into its new cancer institute, which may open before rival Dana Farber’s 300-bed cancer hospital.

Trump administration

• JFK docs: The National Archives posted thousands of documents related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, following a Trump executive order. Historians don’t expect earth-shattering revelations.
• Ultimatum: James Boasberg, the federal judge who accused the administration of defying his order on deportations, demanded more information about deportation flights by noon today. (NPR)
• Transgender rights: A judge blocked Trump’s executive order banning trans people from the military. (AP) But the VA will no longer offer gender-affirming medical treatment to former service members. (The Hill)
• Constitutional issue: Elon Musk and DOGE likely violated the Constitution’s separation of powers provision when they dismantled USAID, a federal judge ruled. But the changes will probably stand. (Politico)
• Welcome back? The administration is moving to rehire thousands of fired federal workers after judges ordered it to. But many are being rehired on administrative leave. (NBC)
• Just asking questions: Two Boston-based law firms are among those that got letters from the administration seeking information about their diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.

The Nation and the World

• Splashdown: Two astronauts, whose 10-day mission to the International Space Station turned into a nearly 10-month stay, landed safely off Florida’s coast. (Space.com)
• Good egg: The price retailers pay for eggs has halved thanks in part to fewer bird flu outbreaks. Lower prices for grocery shoppers may follow. (NYT)
• Difficult changes: The adoption of AI in the workplace is deepening divisions and sparking power struggles between leaders and workers, new research shows. (Axios)
• Still at it: A Vatican official rejected any suggestion that Pope Francis would resign after a lengthy illness. (AP)

⚾ Seventh decade stretch: Retirees are the beating heart of the Red Sox spring training crowd.

📱 Consult the ‘Mediatrician’: Dr. Michael Rich has advice for how to raise children in a screen-dominated world.

📽️ A fest for sickos: The Boston Underground Film Festival, which celebrates gory, scary, and gross movies, is back at the Brattle today through Sunday.

📺 Out of action: Max is removing its Looney Tunes library. We’re all losing out, our critic writes.

😷 No pain: More people are getting tattoos while under general anesthesia. Wait, what? said anesthesiologists. (USA Today)

📚 Behind the plate: Laurie Woolever, assistant to both Anthony Bourdain and Mario Batali, tells all in a moving memoir.

💰 Money Madness: Just in time for the NCAA basketball tournament, a new poll shows that fewer than half of Americans favor betting on college sports. (AP)

🤧 Achoo! Global warming means a longer pollen season.

❤️ Love Letters: She told me he was texting another woman.

🌡️ Hot or cold: “Room temperature” when it comes to food and medicines is not the same thing as your room’s temperature. Who knew? (Mental Floss)

👅 I say tomato: English cows go “moo” while French cows go “meuh.” How can cultures hear the same animal sounds yet say them so differently? (The Pudding)

Thanks for reading Starting Point.

This newsletter was edited by Teresa Hanafin and produced by Bill Geshwender and Diamond Naga Siu.

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Ian Prasad Philbrick can be reached at ian.philbrick@globe.com.