Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the well being and human companies secretary, should be leaping for pleasure as a result of his obvious objective of creating measles nice once more is lastly turning into a actuality.
The harmful illness, which was thought-about eradicated within the U.S. in 2000, is making a full and terrifying comeback. Over 1,277 circumstances have popped up this yr alone, in response to information from John Hopkins College Middle for Outbreak Response Innovation. The illness has hit 38 states and the District of Columbia. Up to now, there have been 155 hospitalizations and three confirmed deaths attributable to measles.
This yr’s extreme outbreak is due largely to decrease childhood vaccination charges, which RFK Jr. performed a hand in as a distinguished anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist. Up to now this yr, two wholesome however unvaccinated kids and one man have died up to now, matching the entire variety of measles-related deaths that occurred between 2001 and 2024.
Amid this worrying scenario, Kennedy, in his new position, has steered pushing the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention additional away from vaccines. He has fired specialists on a federal vaccine panel and canceled grants that fund analysis round crucial vaccine analysis, all with President Donald Trump’s complicity.
In the meantime, Kennedy, who is understood to swim in sewage runoff, has been telling pregnant ladies and youngsters that they not must get vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19. That transfer has put Kennedy knee-deep in authorized bother as nicely, with the serially shirtless grandpa being sued on Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics and different doctor teams.
“We will not stand by while a single federal official unilaterally and effectively strips Americans of their choice to vaccinate with actions that thoroughly disregard overwhelming scientific evidence and decades of established federal processes,” Tina Tan, president of the Infectious Ailments Society of America, mentioned in a press release obtained by Axios.
Then once more, anybody who is aware of Kennedy and his cohort is aware of this was the objective.
Earlier than getting into his newest position, the MAHA guru has falsely linked childhood vaccines to autism, a lie that has been completely debunked.
And whereas Kennedy tried to distance himself from his statements throughout his Senate affirmation listening to earlier this yr, everyone knows that actions matter greater than phrases.
