Please stop letting RFK Jr. make vaccine policies. His new COVID plan is deadly. | Opinion
This might be a controversial take, but I think putting an ignorant boob like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in charge of the nation’s health was a fundamentally bad idea.
That personal view was reinforced May 27 when the man who failed up and somehow became the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary overruled actual smart people and announced the COVID-19 vaccine would be dropped from the government’s recommended immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women.
The announcement was made in the same way quack wellness influencers and dimwitted conspiracy theorists announce things: via a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, currently known as a fact-resistant den of looniness and hate.
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“I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that as of today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule,” Kennedy said in the clip. “Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children.”
RFK Jr. wants to make it harder to get COVID-19 boosters. Also, he’s dumb.
Kennedy, of course, provided no evidence to support his decision. He’s allergic to evidence, and I assume he treats that allergy by taking occasional dips in sewage-filled creeks like any normal person whose noggin hosts a deceased brain worm might do.
Back in the old days, when reality existed and the people in charge had actual qualifications, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employed an independent vaccine advisory panel that used this cool old concept known as “science” to determine who should get vaccines. Now, I guess, a leathery weirdo who spent much of his life lying about vaccines being dangerous gets to decide.
Jesse Goodman, a former chief scientist at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a Georgetown University infectious disease specialist, told the journal Science that vaccine decisions shouldn’t come from administrators: “Those questions should be discussed in an advisory committee.”
Because, of course, they should.
Kennedy thinks he’s smarter than actual scientists, and it’s going to kill us
The CDC, prior to Kennedy opening his mouth, recommended that Americans older than 6 months get an annual coronavirus vaccine. There is evidence supporting the importance of pregnant women being vaccinated against the coronavirus, there is evidence supporting kids getting the booster and there is zero credible evidence supporting Kennedy’s conspiracies that the vaccines are doing more harm than good.
Now, thanks to Kennedy’s “I’m smart, science is dumb” policy, it’s unclear how insurance companies will cover COVID-19 boosters for certain demographics, or whether shots will even be available to pregnant women or children without underlying conditions.
The guy in charge of America’s health is a self-obsessed conspiracy nut
It’s possible this will all work out fine, but it’s also possible that it won’t, and the key thing to remember is that Kennedy is one of the most consistently full-of-crap people on the planet.
In 2024, RFK Jr. claimed that there wasn’t “a single healthy kid who died from” COVID-19. But as The New York Times reported: “A review of data on 183 pediatric (COVID-19) deaths from 2020 to 2022 found that 32 percent of children who died did not have another medical condition.”
So I guess those healthy kids who died don’t count in Kennedy’s warped and wildly inaccurate world.
Or maybe they’re just collateral damage in his ongoing crusade against real science.
Whatever RFK Jr. says to do to stay healthy, you should do the opposite
When getting a vaccine, as with many decisions related to our health, it’s important to look at statistical science. When it comes to the coronavirus vaccines, any potential risks are far, far lower than the risks associated with getting COVID-19.
By contrast, I’d argue this: The risk of taking anything Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says about health seriously is far, far greater than the risk of doing the exact opposite of what he recommends.
If Kennedy posted another evidence-free video on X saying the best way to avoid chronic hand pain is to NOT drive a nail through your palm, I would buy a nail gun and get down to palm-puncturing as swiftly as possible.
America’s health is in the hands of a well-established fool. It’s embarrassing, and it will make staying healthy harder for all of us. It will also, unquestionably, make more people sick.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Please stop letting RFK Jr. make vaccine policies. His new COVID plan is deadly. | Opinion
