'Plenty of hints' point to Trump admin's next toddler-endangering health move: expert
The writing could be on the wall for one healthcare essential as RFK Jr. and his team may be preparing to tackle a particular vaccination.
The Health and Human Services Secretary may make a further move against the shingles vaccine following an advisory panel ruling in December last year. The Children's Health Defense team, which Kennedy founded, asked for further data on RSV shots for children, despite the years of safety testing that have gone into the vaccinations.
A concern from health expert Donald G. McNeil Jr, writing in the Washington Post, aired the possible next target of RFK Jr's team. McNeil Jr wrote, "A recent study of 15 million American Medicare recipients found that RSV shots were almost 80 percent effective at preventing the blood clots that the virus can trigger, causing strokes and heart attacks.
"Kennedy and his advisory panel have not actively attacked the CDC’s recommendations for adult vaccines, but there are plenty of hints that they could.
"In the past, Children’s Health Defense, which Kennedy founded, has tried to make the shingles vaccine sound unsafe because of an adjuvant — an immune booster — it contains.
"In December, his advisory panel announced that it would ask for more safety data on RSV shots for children — even though those shots were safety-tested for years in studies enrolling hundreds of thousands of kids. That could put both toddlers and their grandparents at risk.
"Kennedy has repeatedly attacked flu shots. In a USA Today interview, he said he hadn’t had one since 2005 and speculated that they were 'a potential culprit' for his vocal spasms."
RFK Jr's health plans could be a danger to those serving the government, too, with McNeil Jr urging caution when considering the Health Secretary's future plans for vaccinations.
McNeil Jr added, "In his relentless undermining of vaccines, Kennedy is working to make our lives shorter and harder. Congress should pay attention. One-third of the Senate is over 70 and almost one-third of the House is over 65."