--- title: Daily Update - February 9, 2026 description: Daily Update - February 9, 2026Measles and Vaccine RequirementsListen@the-wilmington-standard Transcript About Reuel Sample This is the Wilmington Standard Dail... canonical_url: https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/podcast/the-daily-update/daily-update-february-9-2026 language: en-GB date: 2026-02-09T16:58:51Z notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/podcast/the-daily-update/daily-update-february-9-2026. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers. markdown-tokens: 1500 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/podcast/the-daily-update/daily-update-february-9-2026. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. ![Vaccines](https://thewilmingtonstandard.com/images/daily_update/2026/february/feb09/DailyUpdate-February092026-article.png) This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Monday February 9, 2026. South Carolina is dealing with a measles outbreak. Measles was declared “eliminated” from the US in 2000. The present infux of measles has been introduced by foreigners – or those traveling abroad. Which brings up the whole question – should we be vaccinating our population against this and other diseases. Vaccines undeniably played a central role in getting rid of measles, smallpox and other dangerous diseases from our native population. Indeed, America stands out as a testing ground in that aspect. According to the [Pan American Health Organization](https://www.paho.org/en/news/15-8-2025-ten-countries-americas-report-measles-outbreaks-2025), the outbreak of measles is directly linked to immunization status- with 71% of cases occurring in unvaccinated individuals in 2025 outside of our country. According to the state of [North Carolina](https://www.dph.ncdhhs.gov/programs/epidemiology/communicable-disease/infectious-respiratory-diseases/measles-rubeola/measles-cases-and-outbreaks-north-carolina), there have been 17 new cases of the measles reported in our state since December 2025 – and all of them were in the unvaccinated or individuals who only received part 1 of the vaccine. Vaccine efficacy and requirement has been challenged by the insanity of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of his first term, President Trump loudly crowed about the amazing result of Operation Warp Speed in developing a vaccine. At first panned by the Democrats, this vaccine quickly turned into a worldwide requirement for travel, for work, and for social re-entry. Its short term protection against the virus is hotly debated – as is the long term consequences of a vaccine that was never really widely tested – accept on a worldwide population that just wanted to get out of the house. The outcome is a massive distrust of the medical field in general – and vaccines in particular. Anti-vaxxers for years have been linking vaccination with outcomes like autism – with the medical science folks outright dismissing their claims without fully addressing them. Neither side has all the facts – just an unending supply of rhetoric. Thankfully, Robert F. Kennedy – President Trump’s Director of Health and Human Services and a marginal anti-vaxxer himself – has called for exactly what we need – a new look at vaccines. Medical science and history show vaccines have proven to be effective in preventing and eliminating disease. The science is also equally real in the possible side-effects of getting innoculated. This is no simple answer to vaccine requirements – and no clear boundary between the rights of the individual and the needs of a society – especially in a highly virulent disease such measles or small-pox. But at least with the facts – we can start. For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample. 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