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Kennedy Pledged to Advance Anti-Vaccine Group’s Agenda. Here’s What He Is Doing.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave a speech last month to Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group that he founded, acknowledging that he had not acted as aggressively as its members had hoped to change federal health policy.
“Those would have been short-lived, and I would have been out of a job because I have to manage my agency competently, according to the law, according to procedure,” he explained, adding: “We have to do certain things before we do other things.”
His remarks, and other recent actions, have made clear that he remained highly focused on vaccines despite advice from White House political advisers earlier this year to focus on issues more popular with voters.
Some of the major changes Mr. Kennedy has tried to make to vaccine policy are tied up in court. Now he and his close allies are taking more incremental steps, but ones that some public health experts fear will further erode confidence in vaccines.
CDC Sending a ‘Disease Detective’ to Help Stop Measles Outbreak in Pennsylvania
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending one of its scientists to Pennsylvania to help curb the state’s growing measles outbreak, a CDC spokesperson said Thursday. That person, a “disease detective” within the agency’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, is scheduled to arrive later this week.
It’s the CDC’s first in-person assistance to the state after a social media feud in August between Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. The two traded jabs following a press briefing where Shapiro announced that two unvaccinated people had died of measles complications and accused Kennedy of spreading vaccine misinformation.
“I made very clear that his actions and the rhetoric that’s coming from this administration are having a negative impact on communities across America, particularly right here in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said during the briefing. Kennedy then suggested that the deaths may have been “fabricated,” and that Shapiro was seeking to profit from them politically.
Exclusive: Trump FDA Nominee Played Key Role in Overhaul of Childhood Vaccine Policy
Heidi Overton, President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Food and Drug Administration, played a larger role in driving the process to reduce the number of vaccines the government recommends to children than emerged during her Senate confirmation last month, when Republican senators asked her whether she’d stand up to anti-vaccine voices in the administration.
An aide on the president’s Domestic Policy Council, Overton helped edit and craft a scientific justification that was used to underpin cutting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations from 17 to 11 vaccines in January, according to a senior administration official and three people familiar with the process.
“It was Heidi driving this whole thing,” said a former senior administration official, noting that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supported the policy push.
Biotech Leader, Leading Lab Leak Theorist No Longer in Consideration for Top Infectious Disease Role
An early advocate for the theory that the Covid-19 virus was engineered in and leaked from a lab in China is no longer the leading choice to be America’s top infectious disease expert, a source with knowledge of the decision told STAT.
Steven Quay, a biopharmaceutical executive with no background in infectious diseases, was being considered for an appointment as director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, a role once held by Anthony Fauci, according to one person familiar with the discussions.
However, Quay instead is expected to take on more of a consulting role for the center, the source said. Neither the White House nor the Department of Health and Human Services responded to requests for comment. Quay also did not respond.
Florida Wins Key Ruling Allowing It to Enforce a Law That Targets Social Media Use by Kids
The state of Florida won a key court decision Wednesday that allows it to enforce a ban on social media accounts for kids under 14 and other restrictions. The law was one of the most restrictive in the U.S. on social media use by children when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it in 2024.
The law implicates the First Amendment, an appeals court said, but “likely does so in a content-neutral manner.” It would likely survive a full legal challenge “because it doesn’t burden substantially more speech than necessary to advance the important interest in protecting minors from social media addiction,” a panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 3-0 opinion.
The law bans social media accounts for Florida children under 14 and requires parental consent for use by kids who are 14 or 15.
COVID Vaccine Compensation Scheme Set for Overhaul After Inquiry Criticism
The government has committed to reform of the scheme that provides financial support for those injured or bereaved by vaccines. It was a key recommendation of the UK Covid Inquiry, and has been a focus for campaigners. One campaign group has welcomed the recognition that vaccine injury and bereavement is real and that the current scheme is not fit for purpose. But it says it wants a clear commitment to action by ministers, rather than simply saying they will look further at what needs to be done.
The benefits of vaccination are well documented. The AstraZeneca Covid jab is credited with saving millions of lives worldwide. But some people have experienced harm.
In her fourth report, the chair of the Covid Inquiry, Baroness Hallett, called for better support for those affected. She said while this was a minority, the way they are supported needed urgent reform.
More than 24,000 people have made Covid-related claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), a form of financial support paid by the government, but just over 1% have resulted in one-off tax-free awards of £120,000. The report called for “urgent” reform of the scheme, saying that it is “not sufficiently supportive”. It said the current system, in which those affected must show they have been at least “60% disabled”, does not work effectively for Covid vaccines.
