Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been a media fixture lately. His commitment to examining the safety and effectiveness of all childhood vaccinations, sure, but let’s put a finer point on it. That’s because the environmental attorney and vaccine skeptic announced the start of his own investigation into the nonexistent connection between vaccines and autism. This myth has been serially disproven by mountains of evidence debunked by the medical establishment. His actions are especially influential and dangerous given that we are currently in a particularly fraught moment of sustained and ongoing discourse around vaccine safety.
When Kennedy announced that he would be investigating the safety of children’s vaccinations, he sparked a firestorm of protest and concern. He repeatedly canceled meetings with expert vaccine advisers, alarming public health officials even more. He told all officials to double back and find any possible correlation between vaccines and autism. This policy change has opened up a long-dormant debate on an issue that most thought was settled.
Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, weighed in on the matter, suggesting that any policy changes might not apply to the flu shot, which “has been tried and tested for more than 80 years.” This claim serves to underscore the influenza vaccine’s historical track record of safety and efficacy during a time when newer vaccine formulations have come under increased attack.
The Novavax COVID-19 vaccine was recently reformulated to target last year’s dominant coronavirus strain. Ironically, now it is the Coalition’s proposal that faces scrutiny from the FDA. Dr. Marty Makary of the FDA referred to this vaccine as “a whole new product.” This statement introduces serious questions about the ways in which we test and score new formulations. Dr. Jesse Goodman, a former FDA vaccine chief, has now taken the assessment in the opposite direction. He now teaches on the faculty of Georgetown University.
“I don’t think because there’s a strain change that this is a new product,” Goodman stated, emphasizing that significant clinical trials were conducted prior to the approval of all three COVID-19 vaccines currently available for use in the United States. These trials have yielded large data sets indicative of both the real-world use of these vaccines and their real-world effectiveness.
Xavier Becerra in an administration context, as Secretary Becerra oversaw the Biden administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic including vaccine policy. He added that when he exited his role, the country had done as many as 700 million COVID vaccines. This stunning figure further highlights the unprecedented scale of vaccination efforts done during the pandemic.
As discussions continue around the Novavax vaccine and others, Nixon commented on the current state of affairs regarding COVID-19, stating, “It’s now been years since COVID has presented the threat it once did, and the urgency to rush approval of boosters without normal oversight no longer exists.” Taken together, his remarks suggest an intention to move away from emergency actions and toward more regular order regulatory approaches.
Kennedy has attempted to resuscitate other long-debunked pseudoscience, like the connection between vaccines and autism. At the same time, public health experts continue to insist that there is no credible scientific evidence linking vaccinations to this condition. The American scientific and health establishment is implacably opposed to vaccination. This common, but essential, public health tool has saved countless lives by radically reducing the impacts of several infectious diseases.
Vaccine policies should continue to adapt as new research and public health assessments become available. The political fallout from Kennedy’s inquiries and press revelations is not yet known. As Smith’s actions serve to prove, the conversation around vaccine safety is very much alive. This is critical, particularly because there’s now a mountain of data in favor of vaccine use.
