{"id":16750,"date":"2024-11-19T09:04:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T10:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=16750"},"modified":"2024-11-19T10:32:16","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T10:32:16","slug":"five-ways-r-f-k-jr-could-undermine-lifesaving-childhood-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=16750","title":{"rendered":"Five Ways R.F.K. Jr. Could Undermine Lifesaving Childhood Vaccines"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p id=\"article-summary\" class=\"css-79rysd e1wiw3jv0\">If he is confirmed as H.H.S. secretary, the longtime vaccine critic would be in a position to change the government\u2019s immunization recommendations and delay the development of new vaccines.<\/p>\n<section class=\"meteredContent css-1r7ky0e\">\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For years, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has leveraged his famous name, his celebrity connections and his nonprofit, Children\u2019s Health Defense, to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/04\/17\/us\/politics\/robert-f-kennedy-jr-vaccines.html\" title>spread misinformation about vaccines<\/a> and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/09\/12\/technology\/rfk-jr-campaign-vaccines.html\" title>call their safety and efficacy<\/a> into question. Soon, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/14\/us\/politics\/rfk-jr-trump-hhs.html\" title>he might have the power<\/a> to go much further.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If Mr. Kennedy is confirmed by the Senate to be secretary of health and human services, he would be in charge of the nation\u2019s pre-eminent public health and scientific agencies, including those responsible for regulating vaccines and setting national vaccine policy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Legal and public health experts agree that he would not have the authority to take some of the most severe actions, such as unilaterally banning vaccines, which Mr. Kennedy has said he has no intention of doing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019m not going to take anyone\u2019s vaccines away from them,\u201d he <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RobertKennedyJr\/status\/1845995741833011374\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">wrote on social media<\/a> last month. \u201cI just want to be sure every American knows the safety profile, the risk profile, and the efficacy of each vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Mr. Kennedy, who has said that he wants federal researchers to pull back from studying infectious diseases, could exert his influence in many other ways. His actions could reduce vaccination rates, delay the development of new vaccines and undermine public confidence in a critical public health tool.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the last three decades alone, childhood vaccines have prevented more than 500 million cases of disease, 32 million hospitalizations and more than one million deaths in the United States, according to a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mmwr\/volumes\/73\/wr\/mm7331a2.htm\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">recent report<\/a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But vaccination rates have been falling in recently years, and Mr. Kennedy could accelerate the trend, public health experts said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1336jj\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171d1bw\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\">\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F19%2Fhealth%2Frfk-jr-vaccines-hhs.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F19%2Fhealth%2Frfk-jr-vaccines-hhs.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F19%2Fhealth%2Frfk-jr-vaccines-hhs.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F11%2F19%2Fhealth%2Frfk-jr-vaccines-hhs.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If he is confirmed as H.H.S. secretary, the longtime vaccine critic would be in a position to change the government\u2019s immunization recommendations and delay the development of new vaccines.For years, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has leveraged his famous name, his celebrity connections and his nonprofit, Children\u2019s Health Defense, to spread misinformation about vaccines and call their safety and efficacy into question. Soon, he might have the power to go much further.If Mr. Kennedy is confirmed by the Senate to be secretary of health and human services, he would be in charge of the nation\u2019s pre-eminent public health and scientific agencies, including those responsible for regulating vaccines and setting national vaccine policy.Legal and public health experts agree that he would not have the authority to take some of the most severe actions, such as unilaterally banning vaccines, which Mr. Kennedy has said he has no intention of doing.\u201cI\u2019m not going to take anyone\u2019s vaccines away from them,\u201d he wrote on social media last month. \u201cI just want to be sure every American knows the safety profile, the risk profile, and the efficacy of each vaccine.\u201dBut Mr. Kennedy, who has said that he wants federal researchers to pull back from studying infectious diseases, could exert his influence in many other ways. His actions could reduce vaccination rates, delay the development of new vaccines and undermine public confidence in a critical public health tool.In the last three decades alone, childhood vaccines have prevented more than 500 million cases of disease, 32 million hospitalizations and more than one million deaths in the United States, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But vaccination rates have been falling in recently years, and Mr. Kennedy could accelerate the trend, public health experts said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16752,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16750"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16753,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16750\/revisions\/16753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}