Hesitancy over the COVID-19 vaccine is leading some parents to skip important vaccinations for their children. Young children of parents who declined the COVID vaccine are about 25% less likely to get the standard measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine, researchers reported in a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Public health officials are worried that a decline in vaccine coverage will cause an increase in highly contagious childhood diseases like measles. Last year, 16 measles outbreaks were reported, compared with four outbreaks reported in 2023, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "In the...