In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio. A top antivaxxer is HHS Secretary RFK Jr. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.
A string of developments over the past several weeks have put Mr. Kennedy’s vaccine agenda at risk. The confirmation of Dr. Casey Means, President Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, is stalled on Capitol Hill, where three Republicans on the Senate Health Committee, including its chairman, have expressed concern about her views on vaccines.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump missed a deadline to nominate a permanent director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leaving the agency officially leaderless. The White House is trying to find someone who fits with Mr. Kennedy’s broader health agenda but whose views of vaccines are conventional enough to win Senate confirmation.
Last week, a federal judge blocked Mr. Kennedy’s changes to the childhood vaccine schedule. And on Wednesday, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who is running the C.D.C. even though his time as acting director has expired, made the new normal clear.
“I think it is vital that every kid in this country get the measles vaccine — absolutely vital,” he said, according to a recording obtained by The New York Times, adding, “Bobby’s fine with me saying that.”
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Polls now show that Mr. Kennedy’s vaccine agenda is a dud, unpopular even with Republicans. And that has created discomfort inside the White House, which has made clear its desire for Mr. Kennedy to downplay talk of vaccines while emphasizing his more popular healthy-eating agenda.
“Our poll highlights strong bipartisan support for routine childhood vaccines in the nation’s most competitive House districts, with majorities across political affiliations acknowledging their benefits and safety,” the Republican pollsters Tony Fabrizio and Bob Ward reported in December.
They added that although the Make American Healthy Again agenda was “broadly popular” regarding food and agriculture, “vaccine skepticism stands as an outlier, rejected by most voters even within the MAHA movement.”
