Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called on people to get the measles vaccine, despite claiming it hasn’t been “safety tested” and its protection is short-lived. As the head of federal health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kennedy’s comments have sparked criticism from medical experts.
In an interview with CBS News, Kennedy stated that the Trump administration was focused on finding ways to treat people who choose not to get vaccinated, but there are no approved treatments for measles. He also suggested that measles cases are inevitable in the US because of waning immunity from vaccines, which doctors say is false.
Medical experts have taken issue with Kennedy’s approach, emphasizing unproven treatments and framing vaccination as a personal choice. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said that two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine offer lifelong protection.
The US has not seen a constant presence of measles since before 2000, except for occasional outbreaks. The federal government does not mandate childhood vaccines, but all 50 states require them for children attending public school. Experts disagree with Kennedy’s claim that the government should not be mandating vaccinations, citing concerns about vaccine safety and efficacy.
Kennedy has pointed to higher case numbers in Europe as evidence that the US is responding appropriately to the outbreak. However, doctors argue that this comparison is false and that Kennedy is twisting facts. The current measles outbreak in the US is fueled by transmission in a primarily Mennonite community in Texas, where vaccine hesitancy is prevalent.
Medical experts emphasize the importance of vaccination in preventing the spread of measles, which kills almost 3 out of every 1,000 people diagnosed. They also point out that vaccines have undergone rigorous testing and evaluation for safety and efficacy, despite Kennedy’s claims to the contrary.
Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/health-secretary-rfk-jr-measles-vaccine-falsely-claims-wanes-rcna200636