The antivaccine movement threatens health in the US and worldwide

Abstract

Robert F Kennedy Jr and others in the antivaccine movement are using the power of the US government to promote disinformation and flawed science, write Anna Kirkland and Scott Greer With Robert F Kennedy Jr at the head of the Department of Health and Human Services, antivaccination rhetoric is dominating the largest federal US agency and its responsibility to protect health. Recent developments that have caused concern include removing all members of a scientific committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccines and replacing them with people who are highly conflicted and mostly involved in antivaccine activism.1 This decision was based on an antivaccination talking point: that scientists and doctors were on the payroll of the drug industry. This was, unsurprisingly, shown to be incorrect.23 In its first meeting the new panel said that it would review vaccination schedules.4 Kennedy also appointed the oncologist and haematologist Vinay Prasad as the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) top vaccine official.5 Prasad, an outspoken critic of the drug industry and covid vaccines, has called for more research into links between childhood vaccination and autism.5 The language of conspiracy and misinformation has been used by Kennedy …