Even before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took office in February as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, some public health experts worried he might use his influence to carry out an anti-vaccine agenda he’d spent decades promoting.
In the worst-case scenario, they said, he might dismiss experts on whom the government relies to make sound decisions about immunizations and enact policies restricting access. He might cancel important research that would be needed in a future pandemic.
In less than six months, Mr. Kennedy has done all that and more.
The health secretary has expressed doubts about childhood vaccines, including those against polio and measles, that have been the mainstay of childhood immunizations for decades. He has described the Covid shot as “the deadliest vaccine ever made.”
Under his leadership, the Food and Drug Administration restricted access to the Covid vaccines for healthy pregnant women and children. And on Tuesday, he canceled nearly $500 million of grants and contracts for work on mRNA vaccines, the technology that helped turn the tide against the coronavirus.
Mr. Kennedy explained his decision in a video on social media, claiming falsely that mRNA vaccines offer no protection against respiratory viruses and can prolong pandemics.
Most scientists were aghast. His assault on mRNA vaccines, and in particular the Covid vaccines developed in the first Trump administration, may have even riled the president.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post On Vaccines, Kennedy Has Broken Sharply With the Mainstream appeared first on New York Times.
