© 2024 Allbritton Journalism Institute

RFK Jr. Could ‘Grind’ Vaccine Development ‘to a Halt,’ Public Health Experts Warn

The possibility that Donald Trump could appoint Kennedy to a key perch has public health officials worried about the future of vaccine development and the FDA.

Robert Kennedy Jr.
Ted S. Warren/AP

Donald Trump’s first administration took big strides in vaccine development. Public health experts are concerned his second will try to dismantle it.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, became a key surrogate for Trump in the last few months of his campaign. Both Kennedy and Trump have said Kennedy will hold a prominent role in the incoming administration, leading to concern that Kennedy would impede vaccine development from a key perch within the government.

He has personally stoked some of the concern — while Kennedy told NPR this week that he won’t “take vaccines away from anybody,” he has also said Trump has promised him “full control” of the public health agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s made public health experts uneasy, given his long track record of promoting conspiracy theories about vaccines and working for a group that opposes the FDA.