During a Monday press conference, President-elect Donald Trump told reporters that despite concerns over Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his anti-vaccine pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, the polio vaccine is safe.
“You’re not going to lose the polio vaccine. That’s not going to happen,” Trump said. “I saw what happened with polio. I have friends that were very much affected by that. I have friends from many years ago, and .. they’re still in not such good shape because of it,” the 78-year-old added.
The topic was raised due to reports that Kennedy’s lawyer filed a petition for the Food and Drug Administration to revoke approval of the polio vaccine. The deadly viral disease has impacted 12 million people worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease control, and an estimated 300,000 Americans are still living with mild to severe symptoms including fatigue, muscle weakness, and pain.
Kennedy will be on Capitol Hill this week to meet with senators and shore up support for upcoming confirmation hearings for his proposed role in Trump’s Cabinet. According to The Wall Street Journal, the notorious vaccine skeptic plans to downplay the topic entirely despite his public, controversial, and debunked views on vaccines and their effects. Kennedy will reportedly also promote Trump’s views on abortion and “talk up healthy food preventing chronic disease.”
Trump did express his long-standing skepticism about vaccine mandates during Monday’s press conference and promoted the false claim of a link between vaccines and autism.
“I don’t like mandates. I’m not a big mandate person,” Trump said. “You take a look at autism today versus 20, 25 years ago, it’s like, not even believable. So we’re going to have reports.”
When Time magazine named Trump “Person of the Year” on Dec. 12, the accompanying interview noted that he and Kennedy Jr. would have a “big discussion” about child vaccines, and he claimed that “the autism rate is at a level that nobody even believed possible.”
Scientific research has debunked any association between vaccines and autism numerous times over the years.
Despite the overwhelming scientific consensus, the supposed link between vaccines and autism remains a prominent point of contention for some crunchy to alt-right talking heads, with Trump and Kennedy among the most high-profile proponents of the debunked theory. Trump’s newest comments are likely to fuel the debate further, especially as vaccine hesitancy continues to rise.
This could have lasting implications on future public health policy, especially in the context of emerging diseases and the ongoing fight against COVID-19.
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