“Why is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attacking vaccines?” That’s one of the most common questions we hear from friends, families and the public, who are all mystified by the motives of the Health and Human Services secretary. The White House, according to multiple reports, has reduced Kennedy’s public presence on vaccine issues ahead of the midterm elections amid concerns that his views are unpopular with voters.
But behind the scenes, Kennedy and political appointees at HHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who share his anti-vaccine views are undeterred. Last week, The New York Times reported that “Kennedy is spearheading an intense push, across health agencies under his purview, for government scientists and federal data contractors to examine his long-held theory that vaccines are helping to fuel an epidemic of chronic disease.” The Times has also reported that Kennedy is “still surrounded by allies … who are pushing him to roll back existing vaccine policy.” And HHS refuses to detail the work a longtime anti-vaccine activist is doing at the agency, a month after Kennedy promised senators details about that work.
Kennedy’s intense focus on vaccines does not reflect the priorities of the MAHA movement he claims to represent.
Notably,in a recent KFF poll, just 4% of “Make America Healthy Again” voters cited vaccines as their main concern, while most said they are more worried about food additives and pesticides. So Kennedy’s intense focus on vaccines does not reflect the priorities of the MAHA movement he claims to represent. His recent backing away from restrictions on glyphosate (the chemical in common weedkillers) further raises questions about how closely his positions match those of his base.
The reasons behind Kennedy’s continued attacks on vaccines and science are more apparent when one considers his financial disclosures and publications. Kennedy has for years engaged and profited from litigation and anti-vaccine rhetoric. He has supported the careers of prominent anti-vaccine attorneys who have earned substantial fees while casting doubt on vaccines. Efforts to “find evidence” that vaccines are at the root cause of autism or autoimmune diseases, in direct opposition to a large body of data showing they are not, could create lucrative opportunities for additional litigation. Such actions could strain or even bankrupt the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, drive vaccine manufacturers out of an increasingly hostile market and push our health system back toward a prevaccine era.
Kennedy also initiated a trademark application for his MAHA brand. Documentation filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows he applied to trademark the MAHA slogan for use in potentially marketing products such as vaccines, as well as vitamins, supplements and essential oils. He was required to transfer this business venture upon becoming HHS secretary because of an obvious conflict of interest. But this history raises important questions: Is the goal to destabilize the current vaccine market in order to introduce future MAHA-branded vaccines with “fewer preservatives and added ingredients,” or to market unproven therapies in place of scientific interventions that work?
We have seen the consequences of undermining vaccines in recent measles outbreaks in states such as Texas, Utah and South Carolina. We likely will see similar events as Kennedy reshapes national health and research priorities in ways that leave communities more vulnerable to infectious disease.
This “decision-based evidence making” approach is all the more infuriating given that it’s being done at public expense. The Times reported that Kennedy’s stealth research push will cost the CDC alone between $40 million and $50 million. Public health leaders and organizations are forced to allocate time and money not to advance the next generation of prevention, but to instead address inaccuracies originating from our highest-ranking health official. By contrast, vaccines have saved us trillions of dollars by preventing hundreds of millions of illnesses and more than a million childhood deaths.
This pattern reflects a profound misuse of limited public health resources. If ever there were a time for radical transparency in how the department is being managed, Mr. Secretary, now is that time.
Mr. Secretary, you are the government, so own it.
The recent Ebola and Andes hantavirus outbreaks remind us again why it is essential for health professionals, community leader and policymakers to continue speaking clearly and transparently about the evidence. Taxpayer money should not be supporting Kennedy’s efforts to build personal and political capital, including artificial intelligence-generated videos and HHS podcasts that portray the secretary as an outsider critiquing the department. Mr. Secretary, you are the government, so own it.
Government funding should be reinforcing our prevention infrastructure, modernizing data systems and beginning the difficult but necessary work of imagining and building a renewed public health system. That system must be resilient to politicization, grounded in evidence and focused on protecting communities. And whatever form those efforts take, they should not advance personal brands or validate conspiratorial narratives. Enough is enough.
Demetre Daskalakis is the former director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
Daniel Jernigan is the former director of CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
Debra Houry is the former chief medical officer and deputy director for program and science at the CDC.