The past two weeks have been a dizzying whirlwind of executive orders, halting all health agencies’ public-facing communications and freezing all federal funding until a federal judge’s temporary restraining order paused that order. The flurry of executive orders — some legal, some likely not — should be considered a harbinger of what could happen within the CDC, FDA and NIH if senators confirm Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary.
We’ve previously described Kennedy’s history of anti-vaccine advocacy and an overview of some of the wide-ranging changes he could make at HHS if confirmed. Since then, several new developments have further shown how high the stakes are if Kennedy takes the helm. The Financial Times recently reported that Kennedy allies already fear he is losing Senate support; perhaps that’s one reason Kennedy is inviting supporters to be present for his hearings.
Those concerns suggest news coverage about the danger Kennedy poses may be reaching senators. We’ve compiled recent developments here to help journalists prepare their coverage of Kennedy’s nomination hearings.
Kennedy skipped pandemic preparedness training
As Washington Post reporter and AHCJ member Dan Diamond reported last week, Kennedy skipped the pandemic preparedness training that’s been legally required to be held during every presidential transition since George Bush signed the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act in 2006. Given the uncertainty around the current H5N1 bird flu outbreak and the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s deeply worrying that the nominee tapped to lead any response to a pandemic did not attend.
Uncertain future of flu vaccine strains
Trump’s executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization raises questions about the process of determining which strains should be included in next year’s flu vaccine since the U.S. has previously worked closely with the WHO in deciding these. The deadline is typically in February or March. If confirmed, Kennedy, an anti-vaccine advocate and non-scientist, may be playing a large role in determining how the U.S. will now select those strains.
Cousin calls Kennedy a “predator”
Caroline Kennedy wrote a scathing letter to senators describing her cousin as a “predator” who is “addicted to attention and power,” has “dangerous” views on vaccines, and who hypocritically vaccinated his own children while discouraging others from doing so. “Bobby has gone on to misrepresent, lie, and cheat his way through life,” she wrote.
Conflict of interest with HPV vaccine suit
Caroline Kennedy’s letter also noted the New York Times story last week that Kennedy would keep his stake in an HPV vaccine suit if he’s confirmed. That means the HHS Secretary would continue collecting fees for litigation against the pharmaceutical company Merck even while leading the federal health agency in charge of regulating pharma companies’ products, a clear conflict of interest.
Emails of false claims about vaccines
Another family member of Kennedy, his niece Kerry Kennedy Meltzer, shared with STAT+ the email exchanges with her uncle that show more false claims Kennedy made about COVID-19 vaccines at the pandemic’s peak. Meltzer, a primary care physician in New York City, reluctantly released the emails because “she decided it was vital for the public — and U.S. senators — to better understand what she described as her uncle’s misguided views and conspiracy theories.”
These beliefs included the debunked autism claims, doubts about flu vaccines, and outlandishly inaccurate claims about dangers of the COVID-19 vaccines, such as Moderna’s vaccine having a “100% injury rate.” Reporters can link to the original emails here.
Potential revocation of pediatric COVID vaccines and CDC vaccine recommendations
Finally, the danger to the availability of vaccines and to the integrity of immunization coverage in the U.S. cannot be overstated if Kennedy leads HHS. For example, because pediatric COVID-19 vaccines are still under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) instead of having full FDA approval, Kennedy also has the ability to revoke that EUA and remove access to all COVID vaccines for children on his first day in office.
I’ve already previously described how Kennedy could essentially revoke any (or all) of the CDC’s current recommendations for vaccines for any ages. If he dismisses all current members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices and appoints fellow anti-vaccine advocates to the committee, they can recommend rescinding whichever vaccines they (or Kennedy) want. If Dave Weldon, Trump’s nominee for the CDC who shares the false belief in a link between autism and vaccines, is confirmed, he is likely to then sign off on the rescinded recommendations.
Those are the extreme possibilities, but there are many stops along that path, including various ways to undermine vaccine messaging and support, as an excellent article from Politico describes. Similarly, STAT+ has an extensive article reviewing “RFK Jr.’s step-by-step blueprint to question the safety of vaccines.” As the STAT+ reporters note, implementing Kennedy’s plan “could include sweeping mandates to reassess vaccine data, shakeups of review boards, and changes to the vaccine schedule.” These two articles provide journalists with an excellent blueprint for describing the far-reaching changes Kennedy could make if leading HHS.
Share your local pediatricians’ stories
The American Academy of Pediatrics has shared nearly 200 stories from pediatricians about the importance of childhood vaccinations with the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). Any journalist can contact the AAP’s media team to find out if one of the pediatricians who shared their story is local to their publication’s market.
Lastly, Health Affairs has an excellent new article reviewing the history of thimerosal in vaccines, the issue that launched Kennedy’s anti-vaccine advocacy.
