With measles activity climbing across the region and traces of the virus turning up in local sewage, Delaware County health officials are taking the fight to the streets. The county has rolled out a mobile "Wellness on Wheels" clinic aimed at getting children vaccinated with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) shot before the school year starts, parking the unit at parks, transit hubs and community events to lower access barriers for families.
County leaders officially kicked off the immunization push on July 27, setting up the 33-foot mobile unit at Observatory Park in Upper Darby. The clinic offered walk-up vaccines, physicals and STI testing on the spot. "As measles cases increase across the state, maintaining high vaccination rates in the county is the most effective way to prevent measles outbreaks from spreading," DCHD director Lora Siegmann Werner said, according to the Delaware County Health Department. A CBS News Philadelphia video from the launch shows nurses administering shots to children from the side of the mobile clinic.
Wastewater Detections Raise Alarm
Health officials got a jolt in June when measles RNA was picked up in untreated wastewater at the DELCORA Western Regional Treatment Plant in Chester. Samples collected on June 9 and June 11 tested positive, according to a Health Alert Network advisory from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The advisory stressed that wastewater detections do not reveal how many people are infected or where they live, and that there were no confirmed clinical measles cases in Delaware County at the time the samples were taken. Even so, state officials urged clinicians to keep a high index of suspicion for fever-and-rash illnesses and to report any suspected measles cases right away.
Why Officials Are Pushing Shots Now
Statewide measles counts have surged this summer. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported 142 cases in Pennsylvania as of July 27, with active hotspots in Lancaster and Chester Counties and an outbreak declared in neighboring Delaware.
Public health experts have long worried about pockets of lower vaccination in the Philadelphia region, where a few unprotected classrooms can quickly turn into an outbreak. The Inquirer reported that Delaware County's two-dose kindergarten MMR rate was 94.3% in the 2024-25 school year, just below many experts' preferred threshold for herd immunity. County officials say using the remaining weeks before school starts to bump those numbers up is their best bet to keep measles from getting a foothold.
Where To Get a Shot
The county's campaign mixes pop-up clinics with scheduled stops by the Wellness on Wheels unit, and a Back-to-School Fair on Aug. 15 is slated to offer immunizations as well, according to county notices. Residents can also get MMR doses at county Wellness Centers, partner pharmacies and pediatric offices. Families are encouraged to bring vaccination records if they have them, though that is not a requirement.
For specific clinic dates, locations and hours, residents are directed to check the county's event and donation pages through the Delaware County Health Department.
A Broader Outbreak
Pennsylvania's spike is part of a much bigger national problem. The Associated Press reports that 2026 has become the worst year for measles in the United States since 1991, driven by outbreaks in multiple states and lagging vaccination coverage in certain communities. That trend has pushed state and local health departments to ramp up outreach and run more pop-up clinics through the summer.
Families who are unsure whether their children are up to date on MMR are urged to call their pediatrician before heading to a clinic, or to contact the county Wellness Line at (484) 276-2100. The Pennsylvania Department of Health continues to urge providers to test and report suspected measles cases immediately, according to its advisory. For more detailed guidance on local clinic availability and vaccine recommendations, residents are advised to consult their healthcare provider or county public health pages.
