On September 4th, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sat down in Capital Hill for a 3-hour-long hearing. The hearing was with the Senate Finance Committee, which included senators John Barrasso of Wyoming, Dr. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Maria Cantwell of Washington, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. The central topic of the hearing was about RFK’s actions as the US Health and Human Services Secretary.
Since Kennedy has come into office, he has fired the director for the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Moranez. In addition to that, he has canceled the $500 million in funds for the research of an mRNA vaccine, and fired all 17 advisors in the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
As a result of this, many Democrats and Republicans alike worry about the state of the CDC and what this means when it comes to vaccination recommendations for the public. There is confusion across the country over what the exact changes are and how they impact the procedures for the COVID-19 vaccine. In the past, RFK Jr. hasn’t been fond of vaccines, since he described the COVID-19 vaccine as, “the most deadly in history” (CNN).
Due to the FDA (which Kennedy is in charge of) changing the recommendations for getting the COVID-19 vaccine, the Senators asked questions pertaining to that topic. First, they said that President Trump did a good job when he created Warp Speed, the Covid-19 vaccine program that led to the vaccine that saved millions of lives. Although Kennedy did agree with this, Senator Cassidy pointed out that RFK was actively trying to dismantle the President’s actions and the hypocrisy of it.
“Again it surprises me that you think so highly of Operation Warp Speed, when as an attorney you attempted to restrict access,” Senator Bill Cassidy to Secretary Kennedy, on Capitol Hill.
Other Senators used a similar tactic, describing the success of Trump’s vaccine back in 2020, and asking if the Secretary agreed. One point to note was that although Kennedy agreed that the vaccine was a great success, he didn’t agree with the statement that the medicine saved tens of millions of lives. He didn’t have a specific number that he agreed with, only claiming that it saved “quite a few” lives.
“There are real concerns that safe, proven vaccines like measles, like hepatitis B and others, could be in jeopardy. And that would put Americans at risk and reverse decades of progress,”One republican senator, John Barrasso, said in the hearing.
Multiple other senators, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Tom Tillis, called the Secretary out on not fulfilling his promise about vaccines, and going back on what he had previously said in a hearing from earlier this year. The senators that spoke, for the most part, were very polite towards the Secretary, though a few did seem more combative about the topic than others. However, Kennedy wasn’t afraid to clap back, answer questions with fire, and even interrupt the senator’s statements at times.
The country will have to wait and see how vaccine access changes as a result of the new Health and Human Services Secretary.
