The man who hopes to be President Donald Trump91裸聊视频檚 health secretary repeatedly asked to see 91裸聊视频渄ata91裸聊视频� or 91裸聊视频渟cience91裸聊视频� showing vaccines are safe 91裸聊视频� but when an influential Republican senator did so, he dismissed it.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent two days this week insisting to senators that he91裸聊视频檚 not anti-vaccine. He said that he instead supports vaccinations and will follow the science in overseeing the $1.7 trillion Department of Health and Human Services, which, among other duties, oversees vaccine research, approval and recommendations.
But Kennedy repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus that childhood vaccines don91裸聊视频檛 cause autism and that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives, and he falsely asserted the government has no good vaccine safety monitoring. While appearing to ignore mainstream science, he cited flawed or tangential research to make his points, such as suggesting Black people may need different vaccines than whites.
His responses raised concern among health experts that Kennedy lacks basic skills needed for the job.
91裸聊视频淗e ignores science. He cherry-picks sometimes fraudulent studies. Sometimes he takes well-done studies and takes little pieces of them out of context,91裸聊视频� said Dr. Sean O91裸聊视频橪eary of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
He worries that Kennedy could further damage public confidence in vaccines and 91裸聊视频渨e will see return of diseases that we really haven91裸聊视频檛 seen much of and unfortunately children will suffer.91裸聊视频�
Kennedy 91裸聊视频渋n many ways demonstrated his lack of capacity to really understand some details around science and evidence that I think he would really need to know,91裸聊视频� said Dr. Georges Benjamin of the American Public Health Association.
The science on vaccines is clear to doctors and scientists 91裸聊视频� but not to Kennedy
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and physician, said the science is clear that measles and other childhood vaccines are safe and not linked to autism.
Kennedy said if shown the data he would recommend those vaccines and 91裸聊视频渘ot only will I do that but I will apologize for any statements that misled people otherwise.91裸聊视频�
So Cassidy pulled out and read aloud definitive scientific conclusions that vaccines don91裸聊视频檛 cause autism. Kennedy rebuffed him, instead mentioning a recent paper that outside experts have called fundamentally flawed 91裸聊视频� and Cassidy agreed 91裸聊视频渉as some issues91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� in an attempt to counter decades of rigorous studies.
The senator told Kennedy his history of 91裸聊视频渦ndermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� and risks casting 91裸聊视频渁 shadow over President Trump91裸聊视频檚 legacy91裸聊视频� if people die of vaccine-preventable diseases should he become health secretary.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat from New Hampshire, said there91裸聊视频檚 a real-world ramification for 91裸聊视频渞e-litigating and churning settled science91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� diverting money and time that could be spent finding the real cause of autism.
Kennedy ignored science showing COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives
Kennedy claimed there91裸聊视频檚 no good surveillance system to know that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and lifesaving.
The U.S. tracks vaccine safety through multiple monitoring systems including electronic medical records from a list of health systems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also checks how vaccines fare internationally, such as during the pandemic when large databases from Israel and the U.K. helped reinforce that the new mRNA vaccines were safe and lowering deaths from the coronavirus.
91裸聊视频淵ou91裸聊视频檙e applying for the job 91裸聊视频� clearly you should know this,91裸聊视频� said Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. 91裸聊视频淭he scientific community has established that COVID vaccines saved millions of lives and you91裸聊视频檙e casting doubt.91裸聊视频�
Kennedy declines to back a vaccine that prevents cancer in women
AAP91裸聊视频檚 O91裸聊视频橪eary said there are about 35,000 cases of cancer related to the HPV virus that could be prevented by that vaccine, including 4,000 deaths per year. 91裸聊视频淲e are already seeing decreases in the number of cases of HPV-related cancers as a result of HPV vaccination.91裸聊视频�
Kennedy didn91裸聊视频檛 answer directly when asked if he stood by claims that the HPV vaccine could cause cancer or other disease. He instead brought up a pending lawsuit and suggested a jury 91裸聊视频� of non-scientists 91裸聊视频� would decide.
Kennedy91裸聊视频檚 unfounded comment about race and vaccine schedules
Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, a Maryland Democrat, asked Kennedy about prior comments that Black people might need a different vaccination schedule than whites. Alsobrooks, who is Black, asked how Kennedy thought she should have been vaccinated differently.
Kennedy referred to some earlier papers suggesting people of African-American ancestry had a stronger immune response to measles and rubella vaccines than white people.
Vaccination recommendations aren91裸聊视频檛 based on race but on biological factors such as someone91裸聊视频檚 age and risk of a specific disease. Some studies show Black Americans are more hesitant than whites to receive certain vaccines.
91裸聊视频淭hat is so dangerous,91裸聊视频� Alsobrooks told Kennedy.
91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 no evidence that there needs to be a different vaccine schedule based on race,91裸聊视频� said Dr. Amesh Adalja of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Such statements could make different populations wrongly believe 91裸聊视频渨ell, maybe I don91裸聊视频檛 need as many vaccines91裸聊视频� as are recommended.
