Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the infamous vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist who consultants warn will sabotage public well being efforts worldwide, has been confirmed as President Donald Trump’s decide to steer the Division of Well being and Human Providers.
The chamber confirmed Kennedy by a vote of 52-48 largely alongside celebration traces.
Former longtime Senate Majority Chief Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a childhood polio survivor, was the one member of his celebration to vote towards Trump’s decide.
Kennedy, an “unfathomable” nominee within the eyes of public well being consultants, has questioned the hyperlink between HIV and AIDS, tied gay and transgender identities to chemical publicity, pushed to remove fluoride from consuming water, instructed COVID-19 was genetically engineered to focus on sure races, claimed Black folks could have different immune systems and instructed anti-depressants are more addictive than opioids and are linked to school shootings.
However he’s maybe finest identified for the misinformation he’s unfold about vaccines. He’s stated they aren’t tested enough — one thing consultants dispute — and has instructed vaccine trials that might be ethically doubtful, probably requiring youngsters to go with out safety towards extreme illness. He’s additionally falsely linked vaccines to autism. When given the possibility to stroll that declare again throughout his affirmation listening to, he refused.
Justifying his vote, McConnell stated in an announcement that over his lifetime, he has “watched vaccines save thousands and thousands of lives from devastating illnesses throughout America and all over the world.”
“I can’t condone the re-litigation of confirmed cures, and neither will thousands and thousands of Individuals who credit score their survival and high quality of life to scientific miracles,” he stated.
Now that Kennedy has been confirmed, he’ll have multiple avenues to curtail vaccine entry and uptake, together with by revising authorities vaccine advisories, abolishing the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, requiring further post-market research on vaccines, sowing public mistrust in immunization and weakening authorized protections for vaccine makers.
Trump has instructed he’ll let Kennedy do no matter he needs with American well being tips.
“I’m going to let him go wild on well being. I’m going to let him go wild on the meals. I’m going to let him go wild on the medicines,” Trump stated at a marketing campaign rally in October.
In 2023, when Kennedy was nonetheless a candidate for president, he stated at an anti-vaccine convention that with him in cost, the nation would “give infectious disease [research] a break for about eight years.” He has as a substitute emphasised a deal with dietary points and “persistent illness.”
An early take a look at of Kennedy’s management could also be his response to the rising outbreak of bird flu, which largely presents in animals however has begun infecting people. Pandemic consultants say they’ve severe issues concerning the virus swapping genes with the seasonal flu, permitting it to unfold extra simply.
Regardless of his many deceptive statements prior to now, Kennedy spent a lot of his Senate affirmation hearings claiming that he’s supportive of vaccines. When confronted by Democrats with feedback he’s made within the current years ― from saying that “there’s no vaccine that’s secure and efficient” in 2023, to saying he’d “pay something” to return in time and never vaccinate his youngsters in 2020 ― Kennedy repeatedly stated his remarks had been taken out of context.
The pushback towards Kennedy from the general public well being neighborhood has been monumental. Final month, greater than 700 consultants within the subject signed an open letter pleading with senators to not affirm him. Earlier than that, greater than 17,000 docs signed the same letter.
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“This appointment is a slap within the face to each well being care skilled who has spent their lives working to guard sufferers from preventable sickness and loss of life,” the doctors’ letter reads. “Individuals deserve higher.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who as soon as roomed with Kennedy in regulation faculty, was blunt with him throughout the affirmation listening to.
“Frankly, you frighten folks,” Whitehouse instructed him.
