The man who hopes to be President Donald TrumpB次元官网网址檚 health secretary repeatedly asked to see B次元官网网址渄ataB次元官网网址� or B次元官网网址渟cienceB次元官网网址� showing vaccines are safe B次元官网网址� but when an influential Republican senator did so, he dismissed it.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent two days this week insisting to senators that heB次元官网网址檚 not anti-vaccine. He said that he instead supports vaccinations and will follow the science in overseeing the $1.7 trillion Department of Health and Human Services, which, among other duties, oversees vaccine research, approval and recommendations.
But Kennedy repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus that childhood vaccines donB次元官网网址檛 cause autism and that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives, and he falsely asserted the government has no good vaccine safety monitoring. While appearing to ignore mainstream science, he cited flawed or tangential research to make his points, such as suggesting Black people may need different vaccines than whites.
His responses raised concern among health experts that Kennedy lacks basic skills needed for the job.
B次元官网网址淗e ignores science. He cherry-picks sometimes fraudulent studies. Sometimes he takes well-done studies and takes little pieces of them out of context,B次元官网网址� said Dr. Sean OB次元官网网址橪eary of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
He worries that Kennedy could further damage public confidence in vaccines and B次元官网网址渨e will see return of diseases that we really havenB次元官网网址檛 seen much of and unfortunately children will suffer.B次元官网网址�
Kennedy B次元官网网址渋n many ways demonstrated his lack of capacity to really understand some details around science and evidence that I think he would really need to know,B次元官网网址� said Dr. Georges Benjamin of the American Public Health Association.
The science on vaccines is clear to doctors and scientists B次元官网网址� but not to Kennedy
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and physician, said the science is clear that measles and other childhood vaccines are safe and not linked to autism.
Kennedy said if shown the data he would recommend those vaccines and B次元官网网址渘ot only will I do that but I will apologize for any statements that misled people otherwise.B次元官网网址�
So Cassidy pulled out and read aloud definitive scientific conclusions that vaccines donB次元官网网址檛 cause autism. Kennedy rebuffed him, instead mentioning a recent paper that outside experts have called fundamentally flawed B次元官网网址� and Cassidy agreed B次元官网网址渉as some issuesB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� in an attempt to counter decades of rigorous studies.
The senator told Kennedy his history of B次元官网网址渦ndermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns meB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� and risks casting B次元官网网址渁 shadow over President TrumpB次元官网网址檚 legacyB次元官网网址� if people die of vaccine-preventable diseases should he become health secretary.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, said thereB次元官网网址檚 a real-world ramification for B次元官网网址渞e-litigating and churning settled scienceB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� diverting money and time that could be spent finding the real cause of autism.
Kennedy ignored science showing COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives
Kennedy claimed thereB次元官网网址檚 no good surveillance system to know that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and lifesaving.
The U.S. tracks vaccine safety through multiple monitoring systems including electronic medical records from a list of health systems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also checks how vaccines fare internationally, such as during the pandemic when large databases from Israel and the U.K. helped reinforce that the new mRNA vaccines were safe and lowering deaths from the coronavirus.
B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檙e applying for the job B次元官网网址� clearly you should know this,B次元官网网址� said Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. B次元官网网址淭he scientific community has established that COVID vaccines saved millions of lives and youB次元官网网址檙e casting doubt.B次元官网网址�
Kennedy declines to back a vaccine that prevents cancer in women
AAPB次元官网网址檚 OB次元官网网址橪eary said there are about 35,000 cases of cancer related to the HPV virus that could be prevented by that vaccine, including 4,000 deaths per year. B次元官网网址淲e are already seeing decreases in the number of cases of HPV-related cancers as a result of HPV vaccination.B次元官网网址�
Kennedy didnB次元官网网址檛 answer directly when asked if he stood by claims that the HPV vaccine could cause cancer or other disease. He instead brought up a pending lawsuit and suggested a jury B次元官网网址� of non-scientists B次元官网网址� would decide.
KennedyB次元官网网址檚 unfounded comment about race and vaccine schedules
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, a Maryland Democrat, asked Kennedy about prior comments that Black people might need a different vaccination schedule than whites. Alsobrooks, who is Black, asked how Kennedy thought she should have been vaccinated differently.
Kennedy referred to some earlier papers suggesting people of African-American ancestry had a stronger immune response to measles and rubella vaccines than white people.
Vaccination recommendations arenB次元官网网址檛 based on race but on biological factors such as someoneB次元官网网址檚 age and risk of a specific disease. Some studies show Black Americans are more hesitant than whites to receive certain vaccines.
B次元官网网址淭hat is so dangerous,B次元官网网址� Alsobrooks told Kennedy.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 no evidence that there needs to be a different vaccine schedule based on race,B次元官网网址� said Dr. Amesh Adalja of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Such statements could make different populations wrongly believe B次元官网网址渨ell, maybe I donB次元官网网址檛 need as many vaccinesB次元官网网址� as are recommended.
