Trump HHS vaccine messaging under scrutiny

Health Care

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RFK Jr. faces scrutiny over measles vaccine messaging

Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been sending mixed messages about a rapidly spreading measles outbreak in Texas.

Stefan Jeremiah

Kennedy initially downplayed the measles outbreak during a Cabinet meeting with President Trump last week, saying it was “not unusual” and falsely claimed that many people hospitalized were there “mainly for quarantine.”

Two days later, Kennedy in a social media post outlined how his agency is responding, including by providing the Texas Department of Health with MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccines.

On Sunday, he went further in an op-ed published on Fox News’s website in what seemed to be the call for vaccinations that public health proponents had been waiting to see.

“Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons,” Kennedy wrote.

But he couched that statement by talking about personal choice, urging parents to talk with their doctors “to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine.”

Kennedy mentioned the public benefits of measles vaccination after a paragraph emphasizing treatment, such as vitamin A, for people who are sick.

He pointed out that 98 percent of measles deaths were eliminated before the introduction of the MMR vaccine due to “improvements in sanitation and nutrition” and noted that “good nutrition remains a best defense against most chronic and infectious illnesses.”

In a letter sent to Kennedy on Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed him to clarify his intentions.

“In your March 2nd op-ed responding to the Texas measles outbreak, which has already killed one unvaccinated child, you failed to include a strong call for vaccinations,” Warren wrote.

“Instead, you claimed that ‘good nutrition remains a best defense against most chronic and infectious diseases.’ Do you believe good nutrition is a better defense against measles than the [measles, mumps and rubella] vaccine? Will you change course and tell American parents to vaccinate their children to protect against measles, yes or no?” she asked.

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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