At a Senate confirmation hearing to become Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. presented himself as a vaccine advocate. But he, and the agency he leads, have taken widespread, sometimes subtle steps to undermine confidence in the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine.
The National Institutes of Health has stopped funding for researchers who wanted to study vaccine hesitancy and find ways to overcome it. They also cancelled a program aimed at discovering new vaccines to prevent future pandemics.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shelved an advertising campaign for influenza shots. Kennedy inaccurately states that scientists advising the CDC on vaccines have “serious and serious conflicts of interest” in promoting the product and are unreliable.
Ministry of Health and Welfare It cuts billions of dollars to state health agencies, including the funds needed to modernize state programs for childhood immunization. Kennedy said in a televised interview Wednesday that he was unaware of the widely reported development.
The Food and Drug Administration canceled a public meeting with its scientific advisor on the flu vaccine and later kept it behind closed doors. The senior official suspended agency review of Novavax's Covid vaccine. In a TV interview last week, Kennedy mistakenly stated that a similarly created vaccine would not work against the respiratory virus.
Some scientists say they saw the pattern: efforts to erode support for everyday vaccination, and scientists who have long maintained it as a public health goal.
“It's a simultaneous process that increases the likelihood of hearing him and reducing the likelihood of hearing other voices,” said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, of Kennedy.
He “recognizes the voices of other authorities,” she said.
The HHS opposed Mr Kennedy's opposition to the vaccine.
“Secretary Kennedy is not an anti-vaccine, he's safe,” department spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement. “His focus has always been to ensure that the vaccines were rigorously tested for efficacy and safety.”
“We are taking action to ensure that Americans are able to get the transparency they deserve and make informed decisions about their health,” the statement continued.
Kennedy approved the X measles vaccine as “the most effective way to prevent spread of measles” after attending the funeral of a vaccinated child who died of measles in West Texas on Sunday.
However, he also described vaccinations as a personal choice with lesser understanding of risks, suggesting that miraculous treatments are readily available. On Sunday, he praised two local doctors on social media. Social media has promoted suspicious and potentially harmful treatments for measles.
Even in the case of measles in the US, even if it surges past 600 across 22 jurisdictions, Kennedy argued in a recent interview that measles vaccines die each year (not true). To cause encephalitis, blindness, and “caused by all paralytic illnesses” (not true). And the effectiveness of the vaccine has declined so dramatically, with older people “essentially unvaccinated” (not true).
According to an email obtained by The New York Times, HHS intends to modify the web page to include statements such as “the vaccination decision is personal,” and “people should also notify us of potential adverse events related to the vaccine.” (Vaccinations are already administered only after the patient has provided informed consent, as required by law.)
Tensions with mainstream experts focused last week when top vaccine regulator Dr. Peter Marks resigned after pressure from the FDA.
“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not wanted by the secretary, but rather he wants a subordinate confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Dr. Marks said in his letter of resignation.
Kennedy's position on the vaccine has raised alarms for decades. But it is now particularly noteworthy against the backdrop of rising vaccine skepticism. Experts said the outbreak of measles and avian flu is worsening.
MMR vaccines – a combination product to prevent measles, mumps and rubella, available since 1971 – have long been the target of anti-vaccine campaigns due to the disproved theory that it can cause autism. Kennedy says he wants to reconsider the issue to alleviate his parents' fears that the vaccine is unsafe.
However, he hired David Geier to review the data. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican of Louisiana, is a physician and chair of the Senate Health Committee, has sharply criticised the decision to spend taxes on unreliable hypotheses despite cutting billions of dollars for other research.
“If you're holding money here,” he said last month.
Refusing to accept scientific consensus “is getting in the way because we enter a very strange realm of prophecy for those who will happen, not, not work, not work, or not.”
In an interview, Kennedy downplayed the risk of measles and highlighted what he viewed as an advantage of infection.
“Everyone got measles and gave you lifelong protection against measles infections. The vaccine doesn't,” he said in an interview with Fox News.
Two doses of the MMR vaccine provide decades of immunity. Also, immunity from an infection can last a lifetime, but “people are also struggling with the consequences of that natural infection,” Dr. Jameson said.
One result was discovered a few years ago. Measles infections can destroy the memory of the immune system of other invasive pathogens, making the body vulnerable again.
Measles kills about 1 person for every 1,000 infected people, According to the CDC, 11% of infected people have been hospitalized this year, with many children under the age of five being hospitalized. Two girls, ages 6 and 8, have passed away in West Texas.
In contrast, side effects after vaccination are rare. But Kennedy suggests that people should see the risks themselves before choosing a shot.
Phrasing said, “If you're more fully informed, you might make another decision,” said Dr. Jamieson of the Annenberg Center.
Doctors have long been hoping that health secretaries and CDC will clearly encourage the widespread vaccination they have had in the outbreak and in the past.
However, Kennedy is enthusiastic about cod liver oil, steroids and antibiotics, which are not standard therapy. Some of these treatments may make your child even more ill.
“The message I'm seeing is focusing on potential treatments for measles,” said Dr. Sean O'Leary, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Infectious Diseases Committee.
Closed door
At his confirmation hearing, Kennedy promised not to change the CDC. Childhood vaccination schedule. About two weeks later, he announced a new committee to scrutinize it.
The schedule is based on an advisory board on vaccination practices, a panel of health professionals reviewing safety and efficacy data, potential interactions with other drugs, and ideal timing to maximize protection.
During the confirmation hearing, Kennedy argued that 97% of ACIP members had a financial conflict of interest. He has long held it without evidence that federal regulators have been breached and concealed information about vaccine risks.
“That's frankly wrong,” said Dr. O'Leary, who serves as a liaison to the Academy of Pediatrics' committee.
Kennedy's statistics came from a 2009 report where 97% of disclosure forms found errors such as dates in the wrong section, missing or information.
In fact, ACIP members are carefully screened for major conflicts of interest and are unable to maintain stock or provide services to the advisory board or speaker's office belonging to a vaccine manufacturer.
In rare cases, it means that members have an indirect conflict of interest. For example, if the institution they work for receives money from a pharmaceutical manufacturer, they disclose the conflict and reject themselves from the relevant vote.
Committee votes were publicly public and often heavily discussed.
“When I was the CDC director, people were a model of transparency for flying from Korea to the world and observing ACIP conferences,” said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, who headed the agency from 2009 to 2017.
Kennedy has repeatedly committed to transparency and accountability, but he proposes to end public comments on health policy.
His department cancelled the ACIP meeting in February, and members were set to discuss meningitis and flu vaccines, rescheduling it in April.
The department also cancelled the meeting to discuss seasonal flu vaccines. Authorities met later without the institution's scientific advisor.
“After all the conversations about how they want to be transparent, one of the first things he does is to take things behind the door we are getting and reduce the amount of public opinion we are getting,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.
During his confirmation hearing, Kennedy reiterated the fringe theory that Black Americans should not receive the same vaccine as others because they “have a much stronger response.”
Sen. Angela, a Maryland Democrat, also warned him with his “dangerous” opinions.
Two weeks later, at a clinic for teenage mothers in Denver, the 19-year-old woman refused all the vaccines for herself and her 1-year-old son.
She explained the incident to pediatrician Dr. Hana Smith, who read online that the vaccine is bad for those with more melanin on their skin.
There is evidence to the contrary. Still, it quickly became clear to Dr. Smith that nothing could change the patient's mind.
“In contrast, regardless of how much information we can give, the damage has already been done,” Dr. Smith said.
Dr. Smith said it's particularly difficult to fight misinformation.
