Of the many unorthodox positions taken by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, none worries US public-health experts more than his embrace of the anti-vaccine movement. If he assumes the position, he could influence the leadership of agencies in charge of approving, recommending and distributing vaccines in the US. Plus, Kennedy, who emerged as one of the leading voices in the anti-vaccine movement during the Covid-19 pandemic, would have a powerful pulpit from which to further spread misleading messages about immunization.
The global anti-vaccine movement, which first took hold in the US, already has undermined advances against preventable infectious diseases such as measles and whooping cough. There are risks with all pharmaceuticals, especially new ones — vaccines included. But the belief that well-established immunizations against childhood diseases are more dangerous than beneficial is based on fraud.