PRN has been continuing to push to make vaccines available in Chicago public schools. We were reminded of how crucial this is when learning about the recent outbreak of meningococcal disease in Chicago, with seven reported cases and two deaths since mid-January 2026. Two measles cases have been reported in Illinois this year, and three in Wisconsin. It is worse than it sounds, because some of these infected people rode multiple bus lines and visited numerous public locations before they were aware they were spreading the disease. Some universities such as University of Minnesota have vaccine requirements for students, but University of Wisconsin-Madison has none at all. However, with the recent presence of a measles-infected person in UW-Madison buildings, the school suddenly changed policy, and says they will now require all students to disclose whether they have had five childhood vaccines (including measles and meningitis). This stops well short of a vaccine requirement but is a big step in the right direction. Another response was that UW-Madison offered free MMR vaccine clinics and there was a strong response with hundreds lining up for their vaccines. Chicago public health offers flu and covid-19 vaccines to those without insurance (details here). Other public health departments, such as Madison Wisconsin’s, have run out of covid-19 vaccines to provide to adults (childrens’ vaccine still available). See vaccination rates for individual schools in Milwaukee in this article. ABC news has a map where you can type in your zip code and see your community’s measles risk. Measles cases have recently been found at overcrowded immigrant detention facilities, an extremely dangerous lapse. Clearly, we need better support so that we can to protect our communities from communicable diseases. PRN’s idea is to make vaccines on offer in all public schools in Chicago.
