RFK Jr . is in the news again!

Not because of his questionable remark about the measles outbreak; however, this time, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services cut a chord at two major vaccine developments.



What happened?

Robert F Kennedy Jr., the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, just made headlines by dragging a sledgehammer to two major vaccine developments.

The US Secretary of HHS, Kennedy, paused a multimillion-dollar project to create a new COVID-19 vaccine in pill form on Tuesday, and as an advisory committee said Wednesday - the Food and Drug Administration canceled an advisory committee meeting on updating next season’s flu vaccine.

The COVID project alone was a $460 million contract with Vaxart to develop a new COVID vaccine in pill form, with 10,000 people scheduled to begin clinical trials on Monday.

Of that, $240 million was reportedly already authorized for the preliminary study.

According to Fox News, Kennedy said, “While it is crucial that the Department [of] Health and Human Services support pandemic preparedness, four years of the Biden administration’s failed oversight have made it necessary to review agreements for vaccine production, including Vaxart’s.” He added, “I look forward to working with Vaxart and medical experts to ensure this work produces safe, effective, and fiscal-minded vaccine technology.”

Meanwhile, the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, or VRBPAC, was scheduled to meet in March to discuss the strains that would be included in next season’s flu shot. However, as per committee member Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia - federal officials told the committee in an email Wednesday that the meeting was canceled.

Offit also told NBC News that no explanation was given for the cancellation of the yearly spring meeting, which comes in the middle of a flu season in which 86 children and 19,000 adults have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


The aftermath:

In an email to NBC, Norman Baylor, a former director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccine Research and Review, said, “I’m quite shocked. As you know, the VRBPAC is critical for making the decision on strain selection for the next influenza vaccine season.”

Last week, an upcoming CDC vaccine advisory committee meeting was also postponed.


RFK Jr.’s past record:

Recently, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a dismissive comment about a measles outbreak spreading in West Texas that has reportedly claimed the nation’s first life in a decade, telling reporters: “It’s not unusual” and “we have measles outbreaks every year.”

When asked about the death during the first Cabinet meeting of Donald Trump ’s new administration, RFK Jr. said, “There are two people who have died, but we are watching it. There are about 20 people hospitalized, mainly for quarantine.”

His comments immediately followed health officials in Lubbock, Texas, who announced the death of an unvaccinated school-age child. However, it’s not clear when or where this second death cited by Kennedy occurred or whether there was a second death at all.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is also known as an anti-vaxxer. Not only that, but Kennedy is also the founder of a prominent anti-vaccine activist group. The US Secretary of HHS has repeatedly questioned the safety and effectiveness of routine vaccinations, such as those for hepatitis B and the flu.

In particular, he has reiterated a thoroughly debunked theory that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine causes autism. The theory is tied to research from the ‘90s that was later discredited and retracted; its author, Andrew Wakefield, lost his medical license. Many subsequent studies have found no link between the vaccine and autism.

RFK Jr. has also referred to the Covid vaccine as “the deadliest vaccine ever made,” despite data showing it’s overwhelmingly safe.

Besides, Kennedy is against school vaccine mandates, although he told NBC News in 2024 that he didn’t want to get rid of vaccines altogether, saying, “I’m going to make sure scientific safety studies and efficacy are out there, and people can make individual assessments.”

Time and again, Kennedy has expressed doubts about the existing scientific literature on approved vaccines, which shows them to be safe and effective. Trump transition co-chair Howard Lutnick told CNN that Kennedy wants to “take on the data and show that it’s not safe.”

Not just that, Kennedy asserted to Fox News in 2023, “I do believe that autism comes from vaccines.”