Health Officials Advising MMR Shots Before Vacationing

With summer break underway and vacations beginning, Bayfield County Health, Red Cliff Community Health Center and North Lakes Community Clinic are all recommending residents check their vaccinations before leaving on vacation, taking special care to make sure measles shots have been updated for the entire family. Bayfield County alone last summer welcomed over a quarter of a million visitors to the area last summer. Bayfield County Health Officer Anne-Marie Coy reports MMR vaccination rates have dropped from 87% in the last decade to 69% in 2024 for children under age two. That trend is increasing the risk of a local outbreak. Those who haven’t gotten the vaccine, are uncertain about theirr immunity or born after 1957 and don’t have current shot records should consider getting a dose of the MMR vaccine.