don't hesitate to blame RFK Jr. for his decades of anti-vaccine rhetoric....

From a CIDRAP article dated 4/17/2026...The MMR vaccines are safe and they work...it is undeniably harmful to say otherwise. If you have kids, have they gotten their MMR shots?
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Kennedy says measles rise predates his HHS leadership

Republicans were solicitous of Kennedy throughout the hearing, and Rep. Bob Onder (R-MO) implied that Stevens’ impassioned criticism of Kennedy was motivated by a desire to go viral on social media.

For his part, Kennedy seemed unfazed by verbal attacks from Democrats as he defended his record, noting that measles cases were on the rise in the United States before he took over as head of HHS.

Kennedy's two decades of vaccine skepticism, including as chair of Children's Health Defense, is part of that picture regardless of his swearing-in date.
That framing is misleading, said Jake Scott, MD, an infectious disease physician at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The recent large measles outbreaks are occurring because of years of falling vaccine coverage, said Scott. “Kennedy's two decades of vaccine skepticism, including as chair of Children's Health Defense, is part of that picture regardless of his swearing-in date,” he said.

It's striking how many fewer parents are vaccinating their kids since Kennedy took office, said David Hill, MD, a spokesperson with the American Academy of Pediatrics.

While correlation doesn't prove causation, Hill said, it would be interesting to replace Kennedy with someone who has “a more scientific understanding of public health and see if the trend reverses.”
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