Latest news with #antiVaccine
CTV News
28 minutes ago
- Health
- CTV News
RFK Jr. ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory committee
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference on the Autism report by the CDC at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday removed every member of a scientific committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to use vaccines and pledged to replace them with his own picks. Major physicians and public health groups criticized the move to oust all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Kennedy, who was one of the nation's leading anti-vaccine activists before becoming the nation's top health official, has not said who he would appoint to the panel, but said it would convene in just two weeks in Atlanta. Although it's typically not viewed as a partisan board, the Biden administration had installed the entire committee. 'Without removing the current members, the current Trump administration would not have been able to appoint a majority of new members until 2028,' Kennedy wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. 'A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science. ' Kennedy said the committee members had too many conflicts of interest. Currently, committee members are required to declare any potential such conflicts, as well as business interests, that arise during their tenure. They also must disclose any possible conflicts at the start of each public meeting. Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives and former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Kennedy's actions were based on false conflict-of-interest claims and set 'a dangerous and unprecedented action that makes our families less safe' by potentially reducing vaccine access for millions of people. 'Make no mistake: Politicizing the ACIP as Secretary Kennedy is doing will undermine public trust under the guise of improving it,' he said in a statement. 'We'll look back at this as a grave mistake that sacrificed decades of scientific rigor, undermined public trust, and opened the door for fringe theories rather than facts.' Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, called Kennedy's mass ouster 'a coup.' 'It's not how democracies work. It's not good for the health of the nation,' Benjamin told The Associated Press. Benjamin said the move raises real concerns about whether future committee members will be viewed as impartial. He added that Kennedy is going against what he told lawmakers and the public, and the public health association plans to watch Kennedy 'like a hawk.' 'He is breaking a promise,' Benjamin said. 'He said he wasn't going to do this.' Dr. Bruce A. Scott, president of the American Medical Association, called the committee a trusted source of science- and data-driven advice and said Kennedy's move, coupled with declining vaccination rates across the country, will help drive an increase in vaccine-preventable diseases. 'Today's action to remove the 17 sitting members of ACIP undermines that trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives,' Scott said in a statement. Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor who had expressed reservations about Kennedy's nomination but voted to install him as the nation's health secretary nonetheless, said he had spoken with Kennedy moments after the announcement. 'Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,' Cassidy said in a social media post. 'I've just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I'll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case.' The committee had been in a state of flux since Kennedy took over. Its first meeting this year had been delayed when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services abruptly postponed its February meeting. During Kennedy's confirmation, Cassidy had expressed concerns about preserving the committee, saying he had sought assurances that Kennedy would keep the panel's current vaccine recommendations. Kennedy did not stick to that. He recently took the unusual step of changing COVID-19 recommendations without first consulting the advisers. The webpage that featured the committee's members was deleted Monday evening, shortly after Kennedy's announcement. Article by Laura Ungar And Amanda Seitz. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller and Devi Shastri contributed.
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Beloved '90s actor makes stunning public vaccine dare to Anthony Fauci
Actor-comedian Rob Schneider has launched a bizarre attack on Dr Anthony Fauci over vaccine safety. The Saturday Night Live star, 61, dared Dr Anthony Fauci to take all 72 approved childhood vaccines at once to prove they are safe. While speaking about chronic diseases on a talk show this week, Schneider said the childhood vaccine schedule has 'ramped up' since he was a kid, suggesting the shots are not necessary. He also falsely claimed there has 'never been a study of the entire vaccine schedule' recommended by the CDC for children from birth to age 18. The Saturday Night Live star, who has long shared anti-vaccine opinions, called out Dr Fauci and former CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky and asked them both to take all of the vaccines in the schedule. He said: 'I'd like to see you show up and get the whole [schedule] if you think it's so safe. 'Get the whole recommended childhood schedule and do it right there on stage, do all the 52 doses right now, and see how safe it is. 'They'll never do it.' While largely influencing the research and rollout of the Covid vaccines, Dr Fauci has never played a role in setting the childhood vaccine schedule. Schneider didn't single out any particular shot, though in the past he has voiced concerns over Covid vaccines and schools giving shots for human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection responsible for nine in 10 cases of cervical cancer. He also retweeted a post in 2019 that claimed 'fake news media' wouldn't tell the truth about Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced British researcher who falsely claimed the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism. Schneider said on an episode of The Sage Steele Show this week: 'They just ramped up the schedule from three shots when I was a kid. Now we have 52 different doses.' According to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, four vaccines were recommended during the 1960s, when Schneider was a child: DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis), MMR, polio and smallpox. There are multiple brands of approved vaccines in the US, adding up to 782 in total, though children are not given all of these. In total, children are recommended to get 15 shots for different diseases in the CDC's childhood vaccine schedule. Some of these are given in multiple doses, meaning a child receives up to about 35 to 40 doses by the time they turn 18. This doesn't include a yearly flu vaccine or Covid boosters. The only vaccines required to attend public schools in most states are DTaP, MMR, polio and varicella. The meningitis vaccine is typically required for college students. The rest, for diseases like influenza and varicella (chickenpox), are recommended by most states but not mandatory. Schneider also claimed there are no studies evaluating the safety of the full childhood vaccine schedule. However, several recent scientific reviews done this. In 2013, the Institute of Medicine looked at all shots on the schedule and found no links between adverse effects like anaphylaxis and immunizations. And in 2021, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRD), an arm of the CDC, reviewed 57,000 citations and 189 studies on the vaccine schedule and found no evidence of an increased risk of severe side effects. However, it also noted there 'remains insufficient evidence to make conclusions about some rare potential adverse events.' Several vaccines have also been shown to be effective with a low risk of complications. The MMR vaccine, for example, is 97 percent effective at preventing measles, mumps and rubella. The CDC estimates anaphylaxis has only occurred in one of every 1million doses, and seizures have been tied to just one in 4,000 doses.
The Independent
12-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Illinois governor is first in US to block federal access to personal data on autism
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed a first-in-the-nation executive order to block the federal government from collecting personal health data related to autism, a direct rebuke to the Trump administration. Democrat Pritzker, who has been one of the more vocal critics of Trump's second administration, signed the order last week, saying he wanted to protect 'dignity, privacy, and the freedom to live without fear of surveillance or discrimination.' It came two days after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a plan to use data maintained by the National Institutes of Health, and claims submitted for Medicare and Medicaid coverage, to determine the causes of autism. While the agency did not release details of the plan, Kennedy promised it would follow 'applicable privacy laws to protect Americans' sensitive health information.' Prior to his rise to health secretary, Kennedy joined anti-vaccine advocates in claiming childhood vaccines are responsible for autism, but studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others have ruled that out. Pritzker's executive order bans state agencies from disclosing 'personally identifiable autism-related data' outside of state government unless the person or their guardian gives consent, it's required by legal action, it's necessary to provide services such as employment or housing or is otherwise required by law. State contractors, vendors and grant recipients are also covered. 'We are taking steps to ensure that our state remains a leader in protecting the rights of individuals with autism and all people with disabilities,' Pritzker said. Andy Shih, chief science officer for Autism Speaks, a national advocacy group funding research and services, said he's unaware of a similar declaration elsewhere. And while Kennedy promises to abide by privacy guidelines, Shih said with advances in computational power and algorithmic thinking, what's private data today might not be tomorrow. Government investigators could use some techniques to get more information than what is previously disclosed. In the wrong hands, it could be used against patients to deny them constitutionally protected rights. 'There's always that concern,' Shih said. 'Being proactive to protect privacy, which is something we value as a society, this should be applauded.' Kennedy has previously said he wants to be able to announce by September some of the causes of autism, a complex brain disorder better known as autism spectrum disorder because it affects people differently. For some people, profound autism means being nonverbal or having intellectual disabilities, while milder cases might mean difficulty with social and emotional skills. Experts say Kennedy's planned database isn't appropriate to uncover autism's causes in part because there's no information about genetics. However, Shih noted that Health and Human Services' announcement was about creating a platform to help understand a range of chronic illnesses, which he said could be useful. Shih added that linking data sets is a proven way of studying issues of health. He pointed to a study published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found dementia in significantly higher numbers among autistic adults over age 65 than the general population. It was achieved by linking numerical identifiers from two different data sets.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Measles Cases In The U.S. Just Hit 1,000. RFK Jr. Still Isn't Taking It Seriously.
Cases of measles in the U.S. surpassed 1,000 for just the second time in 30 years this week. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. still isn't taking it seriously. The deadly and fast-spreading outbreak that first started in western Texas in January has spread to at least 31 states, with 1,001 cases in total reported, according to Friday data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Texas currently has the most cases at 709. Three unvaccinated people have died, including two school-aged children from Texas. Data from the CDC shows that 96% of cases in the U.S. came from people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. More than 120 people have been hospitalized. As the onslaught continues, Kennedy ― an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist who now heads the nation's top health agency ― has routinely downplayed the deadly spread, including promoting a range of unproven treatments. After the death of a 6-year-old boy in February, Kennedy said the child's death was 'not unusual.' 'We have measles outbreaks every year,' he said at the time. But this spread is unlike others the U.S. has previously seen, becoming the second-highest case count in 25 years. After facing criticism, Kennedy slightly walked back his comments after attending the funeral of an 8-year-old Texas girl who died from measles at the start of April. 'The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine,' he posted on X. But since then, Kennedy has continued to downplay the continued spread of measles and the effectiveness of the MMR vaccine, which treats measles, mumps and rubella. At the end of April, Kennedy baselessly claimed that the measles vaccine 'contains a lot of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles.' Less than a week later, he went on a TV appearance to tell parents to 'do your own research' on vaccines. Kennedy did not specify any sources parents should look at. And earlier this month, Kennedy announced the HHS would look into using vitamins as a possible treatment for measles. The directive comes because Kennedy and department officials 'recognize that some individuals and communities across the U.S. may choose not to vaccinate,' HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement. Kennedy also announced this month that the HHS will now require placebo testing for 'all new vaccines.' Health experts warn that the changes could seriously delay a vaccine's release and lead to making vaccines less accessible. It could also create situations in which someone needing a life-saving vaccine could instead receive a placebo, which is an inert substance that does not contain the vaccine. 'You are watching the gradual dissolution of the vaccine infrastructure in this country,' Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told The Washington Post. 'The goal is to make vaccines less available and less affordable.' Making matters worse, thousands of workers at the HHS were laid off earlier this year as part of President Donald Trump's continued purge of civil servants. On Monday, more than a dozen states sued the Trump administration over the firings, arguing that the cuts brought important work at the agency to a 'sudden halt.' Despite Kennedy's seemingly-lax response to the spread and his continued denigration of vaccines, the CDC still recommends vaccinations as the best way to prevent measles. 'Measles is an airborne, extremely infectious, and potentially severe rash illness,' the CDC's website says. 'Before the measles vaccine was introduced, an estimated 48,000 people were hospitalized and 400–500 people died in the United States each year.'
WIRED
09-05-2025
- Health
- WIRED
Trump's Surgeon General Pick Is Tearing the MAHA Movement Apart
May 9, 2025 2:40 PM Casey Means isn't currently licensed as a doctor. But that's not why anti-vaxxers and conspiracists think she's unsuited to be surgeon general—to them, her anti-vaccine opinions aren't extreme enough. Dr. Casey Means attends a confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Capitol. Photographer: Ben Curtis/ AP Images There are a lot of reasons to question President Donald Trump's decision to nominate Casey Means to be surgeon general. She is not currently licensed as a doctor, failed to finish her surgical residency, and has voiced anti-vaccine opinions and embraced unproven alternative medicine, including advocating for raw milk and talking to trees. But her questionable credentials are not the reasons why a large cohort of anti-vaxxers, extremists, and far-right figures are angry about the nomination, which Trump credits to health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. For figures like former Kennedy running mate Nicole Shanahan and renowned anti-vaccine activist Mike Adams, better known as the Health Ranger, Means is nowhere near extreme enough in her views, and is viewed as a 'Manchurian asset.' 'She's not a health freedom advocate,' Adams wrote on X. 'She's not a vaccine truther. She'll never recommend natural cancer cures or remedies. She's basically cosplaying as a MAHA champion. In reality, she is an establishment pick, and she'll push the establishment narrative. 100% guaranteed. Count on it.' 'It's very strange,' Shanahan wrote on X. 'Doesn't make any sense. I was promised that if I supported RFK Jr. in his Senate confirmation that [Means would not] be working under HHS or in an appointment (and that people much more qualified would be). I don't know if RFK very clearly lied to me, or what is going on. It has been clear in recent conversations that he is reporting to someone regularly who is controlling his decisions (and it isn't President Trump).' Responding to Shanahan's post, Michael Flynn, the disgraced former national security adviser, wrote, 'It is another terrible personnel decision by @POTUS.' Conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, meanwhile, who has enough influence in the White House to get credit for a recent purge of national security staff, called for the nomination to be revoked, citing what she says is evidence that Means had been vaccinated against COVID-19 as proof of her unfitness. The backlash is the latest in a series of criticisms of the way Kennedy is implementing his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda, with people who have in the past been his most vocal supporters now questioning whether he has become part of the establishment. Much of the criticism is coming from the anti-vaccine community, in which Kennedy himself was a prominent leader for many years. But many in that world see the policies Kennedy is implementing as head of the Department for Health and Human Services (HHS) as a failure to fulfil his campaign promises. Means unquestionably has support from within the MAHA movement, with figures from the wellness world, where Means has a huge following, celebrating her nomination. 'A superb choice for US Surgeon General,' Dr. Suneel Dhand wrote on Instagram. 'Finally a doctor not owned by Big Pharma.' But on the 'health freedom' side of the movement, which is filled with outspoken anti-vaccine activists, the nomination was viewed as a disaster and further evidence that Kennedy is not really in charge. 'I can't help but think this is a very carefully groomed and selected person,' Dr. Suzanne Humphries, who has falsely stated that the polio vaccine doesn't work, wrote on X. 'Just about no clinical experience. Talks a great game about everything but vaccines.' Means' nomination was announced on Wednesday after Trump withdrew his nomination of Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a former Fox News contributor whose résumé has been questioned in recent weeks. 'Casey has impeccable 'MAHA' credentials, and will work closely with our wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to ensure a successful implementation of our Agenda in order to reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and ensure Great Health, in the future, for ALL Americans,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. However, on Thursday when asked by a reporter why he chose Means, Trump admitted: 'I don't know her, I listened to the recommendation of Bobby.' Means, the White House, and Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment on the criticism about the nomination. A spokesperson for HHS pointed WIRED to a post on X by Kennedy, in which he defended Means and suggested the criticism was coming from Big Pharma: 'I have little doubt that these companies and their conflicted media outlets will continue to pay bloggers and other social media influencers to weaponize innuendo to slander and vilify Casey, the same way they try to defame me and President Trump,' Kennedy wrote. When asked which criticism specifically Kennedy was referencing, HHS did not respond. In an interview on Fox News broadcast on Thursday evening, Kennedy dismissed Shanahan's claims he was in some way controlled, saying that 'the entire leadership of this agency are renegades who are juggernauts against convention.' The position of surgeon general is described by the HHS as 'the nation's doctor,' tasked with 'providing Americans with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury.' But many within the mainstream medical profession have raised serious questions about Means' ability to fulfil this role, given the 37-year-old's lack of credentials. Means has not held an active license to practise medicine since 2019 and despite calling herself a 'former surgeon' on her LinkedIn, Means never completed her surgical training at Oregon Health and Science University, dropping out a bit over four years into a five-year residency. Means is also a proponent of 'functional medicine,' a holistic approach to medicine which is viewed by many as pseudoscience because of the lack of robust scientific evidence to back up treatments and claims. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Means wrote on Twitter that 'many (if not most) COVID-19 deaths could be prevented w optimal metabolic health.' In an op-ed published by The Hill during the height of the pandemic, Means appeared to put the blame for people's deaths on their poor dietary choices, calling COVID-19 'a Darwinian moment for America' and adding that 'Americans must build personal immunity defenses through radical changes in diet and exercise, or risk getting sick and dying.' She also appears to be against hormonal birth control, telling Tucker Carlson that suppressing the menstrual cycle reflects 'a disrespect of life.' And despite the anger of leading anti-vaccine activists, Means has repeatedly voiced fringe and disproven views on the topic. In May, in her newsletter, Means appeared to suggest childhood vaccines are linked to autism, which is not true. 'There is growing evidence that the total burden of the current extreme and growing vaccine schedule is causing health declines in vulnerable children,' she wrote, linking to a blog about vaccines and autism. 'This needs to be investigated.' In November, responding to criticism about her failure to speak more about vaccines, Means wrote on X: 'I have said innumerable times publicly I think vaccine mandates are criminal.' Means has promoted her sister-in-law's raw smoothie company. Raw milk is a topic she appears to be passionate about. 'When it comes to a question like raw milk, I want to be free to form a relationship with a local farmer, understand his integrity, look him in the eyes, pet his cow, and then decide if I feel safe to drink the milk from his farm,' she's said. The Food and Drug Administration says raw milk contains dangerous bacteria that 'are responsible for causing numerous foodborne illnesses.' Means has also repeatedly documented her embrace of decidedly non-scientific treatments and idiosyncratic views of the role physicians should play in patients' treatment. In a newsletter last year, she claimed that the body was a 'radio receiver' to commune with a higher power and that a doctor's role was not to simply treat diseases, but to be 'a steward of the physical body, to be a guide in the process of building a functional material body that is unimpaired by chronic illness and can then reach its highest purpose of gaining a clearer signal to God.' For the anti-vaccine community, however, Means' nomination is a surefire sign that a conspiracy is afoot, whether you support her nomination or not. In one particularly illuminating interaction on X on Thursday, Robert Malone, a doctor who claimed to have helped invent the mRNA vaccine before pushing vaccine conspiracy theories, defended Means by claiming there was a secret campaign underway to disrupt her appointment. 'Big pharma and big Ag are throwing money behind the conservative influencers as well as bots throwing dirt on Dr. Casey Means,' Malone wrote. 'There are WAY too many comments coming in on this topic in opposition to this SG appointment. It reeks of bot farm activity.' In response, fellow anti-vaccine activist Naomi Wolf, who has compared the COVID-19 vaccine to mass murder, hit back, writing that she was not a bot and that Means was 'bad news' and her nomination had all the hallmarks of a 'Silicon Valley astroturf' campaign.
