RFK Jr. Tells Anti-Vaccine Activists They Have a Friend in Trump White House

WASHINGTON: U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has told supporters of the anti-vaccine movement that they have a strong ally in President Donald Trump’s White House, highlighting the administration’s efforts to revise federal vaccine guidance.

Kennedy delivered the keynote address Thursday at a conference organized by Children’s Health Defense, an organization he previously chaired. It was his first appearance at the group’s conference since becoming health secretary.

During his speech, Kennedy pointed to administration efforts to reduce the childhood vaccination schedule and restructure a federal vaccine advisory board. Some of those initiatives have subsequently been halted by a judge. He also praised Trump for pursuing changes to vaccine recommendations, including a recent executive order calling for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to be administered on a different schedule from existing medical recommendations.

Kennedy said the administration had not removed access to vaccines but had begun addressing questions raised by parents about childhood immunization. His remarks were delivered as the United States faces its worst measles year in decades, with Pennsylvania health officials reporting four measles-associated deaths this year.

Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, previously served as the chief legal counsel and chairman of Children’s Health Defense before becoming a member of the Trump administration. His appearance at the conference marked a return to an organization closely associated with his earlier public-health activism.

Medical organizations and public-health officials have criticized recent changes to federal vaccine policy, warning that they could contribute to vaccine hesitancy and undermine public confidence in health authorities. The scientific consensus, based on decades of research, continues to find no link between vaccines and autism.

The conference also featured Andrew Wakefield, whose study linking the MMR vaccine to autism was retracted and has been widely discredited.