"Kennedy built his reputation on anti-vaccine advocacy. That made some senators wary of confirming him, so he spent time leading up to his confirmation vote in February reassuring them: "If confirmed, I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking vaccines," he wrote repeatedly in answer to written questions from members of the Senate finance committee."
"He also said that he would accept "unprecedented" input from Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician and vaccine supporter who chairs the Senate committee that oversees HHS and is a member of the finance committee. Kennedy has broken many of the specific promises he made to Cassidy. He moved to dramatically transform the federal government's approach to vaccines, from investment in biomedical research to the FDA approval process, to access. Already, some who want the new COVID-19 booster are finding they can't get it."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is testifying before the Senate Finance Committee after pressing CDC Director Susan Monarez to resign; the White House fired her when she refused and three senior CDC officials resigned in protest. The hearing nominally centers on the president's 2026 health care agenda and Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again initiative, but lawmakers are poised to raise concerns about CDC leadership in disarray and Kennedy's efforts to overhaul federal vaccine policy. More than a thousand current and former HHS staff have called for his resignation. Kennedy's longstanding anti-vaccine advocacy, broken assurances to senators, replacement of a key vaccine advisory panel, and reports of limited access to the new COVID-19 booster have intensified scrutiny.
Read at www.npr.org
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