Robert F Kenned Jr.

WHO slams US-funded newborn vaccine trial as “unethical”

anti-vaccine, CDC, health, hepatitis B, Robert F Kenned Jr., WHO / 9u50fv / February 14, 2026

“Exploiting scarcity is not ethical,” the WHO wrote in its statement today.

Dangerous trial

The United Nations health agency highlighted that the hepatitis B vaccine birth dose is “an effective, and essential public health intervention” that has “been used for over three decades, with more than 115 countries including it in their national schedules. “

“It prevents life‑threatening liver disease by stopping mother‑to‑child transmission at birth,” the WHO wrote, noting that more than 12 percent of adults in Guinea-Bissau have chronic hepatitis B.

In a section subtitled “Why withholding the vaccine is unethical,” the WHO lays out all the reasons the trial is dangerous.

“From what is publicly described, the [trial] protocol does not appear to ensure even a minimum level of harm reduction and benefit to the study participants (e.g., screening pregnant women and vaccinating newborns exposed to hepatitis B),” the WHO wrote.

As a proven lifesaving vaccine, withholding it from some study participants would expose newborns to serious and potentially irreversible harm, including chronic infection, cirrhosis, and liver cancer, the WHO argues. There is no scientific justification for withholding a proven intervention, and there is no credible evidence of the safety concerns that Benn and her colleagues claim to be looking for in their trial. The WHO also noted that the publicly available information about the trial indicates that it will be a single-blind, no-treatment-controlled design, which “raises a significant likelihood of substantial risk of bias, limiting interpretability of the study results and their policy relevance.”

As of now, the trial appears to be suspended. Nature News reported that in a January 22 press conference, health officials in Guinea-Bissau said that a technical and ethical review was pending. “There has been no sufficient coordination in order to take a final decision regarding the study,” Quinhin Nantote, the minister of public health for Guinea-Bissau, said. “Faced with this situation, we decided to suspend it.”

Previously, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that the trial would not go forward. However, the US Department of Health and Human Services provided a statement saying that it was “proceeding as planned.”

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Big Pharma is openly railing against RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine agenda

anti-vaccine, health, pharmaceutical, Robert F Kenned Jr. / Mike M. / January 15, 2026

Waiting for the midterms

But pharmaceutical executives don’t appear comforted by the pushback. “Today it may be childhood vaccines or mRNA, but tomorrow it’s everything,” Noubar Afeyan, co-founder and chairman of Moderna, maker of mRNA vaccines, said. “We have to say not just ‘why is this happening?,’ but ‘Where will it stop?’”

As a bad flu season is underway, Dean Li, president of Merck Research Laboratories, noted that the anti-vaccine rhetoric is hitting seasonal flu shots. “With the pressure on vaccination, I cannot foresee flu vaccination increasing in this country over the next three years,” he said in a presentation.

Sanofi Chief Executive Paul Hudson had a similarly pessimistic outlook. “It’s clear this administration has a particular sensitivity around vaccination, and indeed pediatric vaccination,” Hudson said. “I’m asked all the time ‘what are you going to do to fix this?,’ and the truth is we just need to stay extremely objective and continue presenting the evidence. There’s really very little else we can do,” except wait for the midterm elections, he said.

“We will have to maintain a steely focus on the long-term future of vaccines and deal with any uncertainty around vaccine coverage rates in the short-term based on misinformation, Facebook posts, and statements from the top,” he said.

Bourla also worried about the conditions Kennedy is creating to attack drug makers. Kennedy, who is an environmental lawyer with no scientific or medical background, has profited from lawsuits against vaccine makers, as have many of his allies and advisors. “There is also a lot of plaintiffs’ playbook there,” Bourla said. “Everybody will start litigating.”

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FDA deletes warning on bogus autism therapies touted by RFK Jr.‘s allies

anti-vaccine, autism, fda, fraud, health, Robert F Kenned Jr., Scams, treatment / 9u50fv / January 13, 2026

For years, the Food and Drug Administration provided an informational webpage for parents warning them of the dangers of bogus autism treatments, some promoted by anti-vaccine activists and “wellness” companies. The page cited specifics scams and the “significant health risks” they pose.

But, under anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—who has numerous ties to the wellness industry—that FDA information webpage is now gone. It was quietly deleted at the end of last year, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to Ars Technica.

The defunct webpage, titled “Be Aware of Potentially Dangerous Products and Therapies that Claim to Treat Autism,” provided parents and other consumers with an overview of the problem. It began with a short description of autism and some evidence-based, FDA-approved medications that can help manage autism symptoms. Then, the regulatory agency provided a list of some false claims and unproven, potentially dangerous treatments it had been working to combat. “Some of these so-called therapies carry significant health risks,” the FDA wrote.

The list included chelation and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, treatments that those in the anti-vaccine and wellness spheres have championed.

Dangerous detoxes

Chelation is a real treatment for heavy metal poisoning, such as lead poisoning. But it has been co-opted by anti-vaccine activists and wellness gurus, who falsely claim it can treat autism, among other things. These sham treatments can come in a variety of forms, including sprays, suppositories, capsules, and liquid drops. Actual FDA-approved chelation therapy products are prescription only, the agency noted, and chelating certain minerals from the body “can lead to serious and life-threatening outcomes.”

Many anti-vaccine activists promote the false and thoroughly debunked claim that vaccines cause autism, and more specifically, that trace metal components in some vaccines cause the neurological disorder. For years, anti-vaccine activists like Kennedy focused on thimerosal, a vaccine preservative that contains ethylmercury. Thimerosal was largely removed from childhood vaccines by 2001 amid unfounded concerns. The removal made no impact on autism rates, and many studies have continued to show that it is safe and not a cause of autism. Anti-vaccine activists moved on to blame other vaccine components for autism, including aluminum, which is used in some vaccines to help spur protective immune responses. It too has been found to be safe and not linked to autism.

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RFK Jr.’s new CDC deputy director prefers “natural immunity” over vaccines

anti-vaccine, CDC, health, public health, ralph abraham, Robert F Kenned Jr., vaccine / Kelly Newman / November 26, 2025

Under ardent anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has named Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham as its new principal deputy director—a choice that was immediately called “dangerous” and “irresponsible,” yet not as bad as it could have been, by experts.

Physician Jeremy Faust revealed the appointment in his newsletter Inside Medicine yesterday, which was subsequently confirmed by journalists. Faust noted that a CDC source told him, “I heard way worse names floated,” and although Abraham’s views are “probably pretty terrible,” he at least has had relevant experience running a public health system, unlike other current leaders of the agency.

But Abraham hasn’t exactly been running a health system the way most public health experts would recommend. Under Abraham’s leadership, the Louisiana health department waited months to inform residents about a deadly whooping cough (pertussis) outbreak. He also has a clear record of anti-vaccine views. Earlier this year, he told a Louisiana news outlet he doesn’t recommend COVID-19 vaccines because “I prefer natural immunity.” In February, he ordered the health department to stop promoting mass vaccinations, including flu shots, and barred staff from running seasonal vaccine campaigns.

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All childhood vaccines in question after first meeting of RFK Jr.’s vaccine panel

ACIP, anti-vaccine, CDC, COVID-19, health, influenza, measles, Robert F Kenned Jr., vaccination / Shannon Garcia / June 26, 2025

A federal vaccine panel entirely hand-selected by health secretary and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gathered for its first meeting Wednesday—and immediately announced that it would re-evaluate the entire childhood vaccination schedule, as well as the one for adults.

The meeting overall was packed with anti-vaccine talking points and arguments from the new panel members, confirming public health experts’ fears that the once-revered panel is now critically corrupted and that Kennedy’s controversial picks will only work to fulfill his long-standing anti-vaccine agenda.

Controversial committee

An hour before the meeting began, the American Academy of Pediatrics came out swinging against the new panel, saying that the panel’s work is “no longer a credible process.” The organization shunned the meeting, refusing to send a liaison to the panel’s meeting, which it has done for decades.

“We won’t lend our name or our expertise to a system that is being politicized at the expense of children’s health,” AAP President Susan Kressly said in a video posted on social media.

The panel in question, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), has for more than 60 years provided rigorous public scientific review, discussion, and trusted recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how vaccines should be used in the US after they’ve earned approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The CDC typically adopts ACIP’s recommendations, and once that happens, insurance providers are required to cover the cost of the recommended shots.

The system is highly regarded globally. But, on June 9, Kennedy unilaterally and summarily fired all 17 esteemed ACIP members and, two days later, replaced them with eight new people. Some have clear anti-vaccine views, others have controversial and contrarian public health views, and several have little to no expertise in the fields relevant to vaccines.

Last night, it came to light that one of the eight new appointees—Michael Ross, an obstetrics and gynecology physician—had withdrawn from the committee during a financial holdings review that ACIP members are required to complete before beginning work on the panel.

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RFK Jr. announces 8 appointees to CDC vaccine panel—they’re not good

CDC, health, Robert F Kenned Jr., robert malone, vaccines / Shannon Garcia / June 12, 2025

Anti-vaccine advocate and current Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took to social media Wednesday to announce the names of eight people he is appointing to a critical federal vaccine advisory committee—which is currently empty after Kennedy abruptly fired all 17 previous members Monday.

In the past, the vetting process for appointing new members to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) could take years. But Kennedy has taken just two days.

The panel, typically stocked with vaccine, infectious disease, and public health experts, carefully and publicly reviews, analyzes, and debates vaccine data and offers recommendations to the CDC via votes. The CDC typically adopts the recommendations, which set clinical practices nationwide and determine insurance coverage for vaccinations.

Yesterday, Kennedy pledged that none of the new ACIP members would be “ideological anti-vaxxers.” However, the list of today’s appointees includes Robert Malone, who falsely claims to have invented mRNA vaccines and has spent the past several years spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about them.

Speaking at an anti-vaccine rally in 2022, Malone spread dangerous falsehoods about mRNA COVID-19 vaccines: “These genetic vaccines can damage your children. They may damage their brains, their heart, their immune system and their ability to have children in the future. Many of these damages cannot be repaired.”

Troubling list

Malone aligned with the anti-vaccine crowd during the pandemic and has become a mainstay in conspiratorial circles and an ally to Kennedy. He has claimed that vaccines cause a “form of AIDS,” amid other nonsense. He has also meddled with responses to the measles outbreak that erupted in West Texas in January. In April, Malone was the first to publicize news that a second child had died from the highly infectious and serious infection, but he did so to falsely claim that measles wasn’t the cause and spread other dangerous misinformation.

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Anti-vaccine advocate RFK Jr. fires entire CDC panel of vaccine advisors

ACIP, CDC, health, Robert F Kenned Jr., vaccines / Beth Washington / June 10, 2025

“Most likely aim to serve the public interest as they understand it,” he wrote. “The problem is their immersion in a system of industry-aligned incentives and paradigms that enforce a narrow pro-industry orthodoxy.”

Kennedy, who is currently trying to shift the national attention to his idea of clean living and higher-quality foods, has a long history of advocating against vaccines, spreading misinformation and disinformation about the lifesaving shots. However, a clearer explanation of Kennedy’s war on vaccines can be found in his rejection of germ theory. In his 2021 book that vilifies infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci, he bemoaned germ theory as “the pharmaceutical paradigm that emphasized targeting particular germs with specific drugs rather than fortifying the immune system through healthy living, clean water, and good nutrition.”

As such, he rails against the “$1 trillion pharmaceutical industry pushing patented pills, powders, pricks, potions, and poisons.”

In Kennedy’s op-ed, he indicates that new ACIP members will be appointed who “won’t directly work for the vaccine industry. … will exercise independent judgment, refuse to serve as a rubber stamp, and foster a culture of critical inquiry.”

It’s unclear how the new members will be vetted and appointed and when the new committee will be assembled.

In a statement, the president of the American Medical Association, Bruce Scott, rebuked Kennedy’s firings, saying that ACIP “has been a trusted national source of science- and data-driven advice and guidance on the use of vaccines to prevent and control disease.” Today’s removal “undermines that trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives,” he continued. “With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses.”

This post has been updated to include a statement from the AMA. This story is breaking and may be updated further.

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