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.
National Institutes of Health I stopped the funds 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 says that scientists advising the CDC on vaccines have it “Serious, serious conflict of interest” Advertising your product means you can’t trust it.
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. a Top Official Pause Agency Reviews Novavax 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.”
Source: www.nytimes.com
