Texas Pastor Boasts About Lowest Measles Vax Rate In The State

"Medical Freedom" or just misguided? A Texas pastor recently took to social media to brag about a school having the lowest measles vaccination rate in the state- at just 14.29% of students.

Mercy Culture Preperatory School is a private, tuition-based Christian school in Fort Worth that admits K through 12th Grades. According to KHOU News, other schools in the area have an MMR vaccination rate typically between 75% and 100%.

West Texas has been in countless headlines for a recent measles outbreak due to low vaccination rates in Gaines County, which unfortunately led to the first death of a U.S. child due to measles in a decade.

Given the highly infectious nature of measles, it is likely only a matter of time before the outbreak spreads to other under-vaccinated areas of the state.

Rather than being alarmed at what is likely the upcoming sickness of his student population, Mercy Culture pastor Landon Schott took to social media to brag about the low rates and to "congratulate all the family members" who "embrace freedom of health."

"IN TEXAS!!!! I just found out that @mercyculturepreparatory is the number one school in Texas for the LEAST amount of “vaccinations!” We value our HEALTH & FREEDOM! 🇺🇸🎉🇺🇸🎉"

One commenter on the post countered with a different view:

Hey man, I'm an outspoken Christian and also a medical student. Respectfully, this is a horrible thing to be celebrating. This is a disgrace to the name of Christ. Jesus loves the children, and advocating for them to be exposed to preventable sickness and death defies every tenet of Jesus loving the little children. Please, please, reconsider this. 

One Texas Representative joined in on the low vaccination rate, bragging on X (video sound is of poor quality):

In the video, Rep. Schatzline refers to the MMR vaccine as "experimental," although it was developed in the 1960s and nearly eradicated measles in the U.S. by the early 2000s.

Both the pastor and the Representative were likely vaccinated as children and will likely not become infected with measles, should it make its way to North Texas. The same fate is unclear for their children.