RFK Jr.'s vaccine policies could defy "settled science," New York congressman-elect says
NEW YORK -- Incoming New York Congressman George Latimer expects "major pushback" to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s potential vaccine policy if he becomes head of the Health and Human Services Department.
RFK Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's pick for HHS secretary, may consider revoking the FDA approval of a polio vaccine and others if confirmed to the role by the U.S. Senate.
"If Bobby Kennedy does become head of HHS and decides that he wants to get out of the vaccination business for childhood diseases, there's going to be a battle, and I'm going to be on the side of those battling," Latimer said Sunday on CBS News New York's "The Point with Marcia Kramer."
Kennedy has said he would not ban vaccines and has distanced himself from being labeled "anti-vax." Instead, he's called for further studies on the shots. As CBS News reported, he stepped down as chair of Children's Health Defense, a nonprofit that some watchdog groups found has spread misinformation about vaccines.
A debate over "settled science"
Latimer, the Democratic Westchester County executive, was elected to the U.S. House after winning his primary against incumbent Rep. Jamaal Bowman. He says much of the debate over vaccine safety was settled decades ago.
"I'm of an age where the Salk vaccine came out just about the time I was a little kid, and I was vaccinated. No little kid wants to get a shot, I didn't want to get a shot either, but it protected me and my cohorts of my baby boom generation from what was a crippling disease, polio, in the prior generation. And then all of the different childhood vaccinations you get, for measles, for chickenpox, smallpox, all of these different diseases, some of them have been eradicated, some of them have been lessened. To go back and revisit that because you have a philosophy about vaccinations, to me, is just simply insane and it puts people at risk. I understand that a lot of the anti-vax movement came out of the COVID crisis, and the way people felt they did not want to take a COVID vaccination," Latimer said, "But the other issues that we're talking about have been settled science over 50-plus years."
The World Health Organization has reported that the lack of vaccines for measles in developing countries has led to a 20% increase in cases around the world, and there are fears childhood measles cases could rise in the U.S. if vaccines stop being readily available.
Latimer expects a bipartisan effort to prevent it from happening, especially with Republicans holding a slim majority in the House.
"I think when you look at those facts, and I believe those facts to be true, that colleagues that I have across the aisle, who by partisan affiliation want to give the president the benefit of the doubt, but when they look at something like that, what those effects are, I expect there's a bipartisan effort to push back on changing policies that fall upon settled science," he said.
Congress could take action on vaccine availability, Latimer says
Latimer suggested Congress, which holds the power of the purse, may withhold certain funding to prevent the health department from enacting anti-vaccine policies. But he doesn't think it has to come to that.
"I think in this particular case, the president and people around him, would be wise to recognize what outrage will come from the civilian population if you try to change this, and if you change it in any way, and you start getting bad results, you start getting more children sick, more children dying because they're not properly vaccinated as they have been for the last 50, 70 years," he said.
Since Republicans will have a majority in the Senate, Trump's Cabinet nominees will likely face an easier road to confirmation, even those who may be controversial.