RFK's anti-vax agenda endangers the entire Trump reform drive
Word of warning to Health Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr.: Restoring Americans' trust in the feds' public-health decisions means hiring truly fair-minded, science-driven folks — not anti-vax crackpots.
RFK Jr. last week canned all 17 members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), saying: 'A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.'
Most of them got appointed just last year to terms that would last through 2028, so Kennedy would've had to fire at least some to have much impact on the panel — and President Joe Biden set clear precedent for axing supposedly bi- and non-partisan advisory-board members.
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Yes, ACIP members are supposed to be unbiased experts, but vaccine recommendations nonetheless plainly did get politicized in the Biden years (along with a lot of other public-health 'science,' such as guidelines for reopening schools).
Not only did CDC and FDA officials cover up negative side-effects of COVID vaccines, they prompted top career officials to resign over the psuedo-scientific 'findings' that everyone should get vaxxed and re-vaxxed.
Happily, several of the eight new ACIP members RFK announced later in the week look to be solid scientists, such as biostatistician Martin Kulldorff, a co-author of the anti-lockdown Great Barrington Declaration, and pediatrician Cody Meissner, who's served on the panel before.
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But at least one pick raises serious alarm bells: Vicky Pebsworth served on the board of the National Vaccine Information Center, an anti-vax outfit that fearmongers about 'vaccine injuries and deaths.'
Plus: In announcing the firings, Kennedy announced the federal health department will now prioritize 'public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda.'
Huh? It should be pro-vaccine, albeit in a 'trust but verify' mode, because the jabs overall are objectively a life-saving public good.
Just ask the victims of the current measles breakout, which anti-vax propaganda has made worse.
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Naming Pebsworth to ACIP is a clear sign RFK still has at least one foot in the anti-vax conspiracy-theory camp; if he keeps it up (he's got 11 more slots to fill on the panel), he'll prove that all who opposed his confirmation were right.
The White House needs to keep Kennedy on a short leash, lest he alienate rational Republicans and give Democrats ammunition for undermining the entire Trump agenda.
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