12 ways RFK Jr. has undercut vaccine confidence as health secretary

12 ways RFK Jr. has undercut vaccine confidence as health secretary Health Sep 26, 2025 1:45 PM EDT

Since the Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the nation’s health secretary seven months ago, he has made numerous changes to U.S. vaccine policy, stifled the voices of the nation’s top health experts and shared dozens of questionable statements about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines.

After he purged more than a dozen medical experts serving on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in June, Kennedy’s new advisory panel met in September to discuss and vote on key vaccine recommendations going into the respiratory virus season. Days later, Kennedy and the Trump administration repeated the claim, without evidence, that vaccines contributed to autism , a theory tha