Kennedy has a long history of opposing childhood vaccinations and even worked as a lawyer to try to stop kids from getting vaccinated. Now, with the power of the state, he’s directing the CDC to put out false messages about childhood vaccines.
This week he directed the CDC to change their website to question decades of scientific research than have consistently shown no link between autism and child vaccines – saying that the long-time statement that “vaccines do not cause autism” is not evidence-based. This, despite overwhelming evidence showing no link between vaccines and autism.
Autism and Vaccines | Vaccine Safety | CDC
This change is bad and feeds the anti-vax fire with more false information. But that’s not my primary concern. I’m more worried that he will use his authority to make policy changes that will undermine childhood vaccination.
There are 2 ways he could do it.
The first is to get the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (now stacked with anti-vaccine people) to remove some vaccines from the recommended vaccine schedule. That would cause the Vaccines for Children program (which provides free vaccines for more than half of American children) to no longer cover those vaccines – making them cash pay for low-income families. Private insurers would then be able to stop covering them, again making them cash pay.
RFK Jr.’s CDC spreads false facts about vaccines, autism, critics say
Kennedy could also go deeper into using false information to claim that there’s a link between vaccines and autism – making autism compensable under the vaccine injury compensation fund, bankrupting the fund.
An insolvent fund would then provide a powerful incentive for vaccine manufacturers to stop making all childhood vaccines (most of which have a very low profit margin). This would make it much harder to maintain production of childhood vaccines and could harm public health on a large scale.
We all need to cross our fingers that Kennedy doesn’t end up ordering a wholesale removal vaccines from the schedule and/or intentionally bankrupting the VICF to get rid of vaccines altogether.
AZPHA continues to urge parents to follow guidance from trusted health professionals like pediatricians, not Mr. Kennedy.
Note: The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices is meeting on December 4 and 5 – and a large portion of the 2-day meeting is focused on the child vaccine schedule.
Day 2 has ‘votes’ about the child vaccine schedule without disclosing what those votes will be about. My continuing fear is that Kennedy will use his authority to cut shots from the schedule in order to end vaccination through the back door.
