Texas public health experts brace for RFK Jr.’s impact

DALLAS – KERA reports that Texas public health officials say they’re used to setting the record straight about vaccinations and other scientifically sound treatments – but some are bracing for even more challenges under President-elect Donald Trump’s picks for top cabinet posts. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, has raised alarms for policy experts across the country. More recently, Trump announced Dr. Mehmet Oz as his head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Terri Burke, who leads The Immunization Partnership, said under Kennedy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration could lose funding; health and immunization guidance for school districts could weaken; and misinformation — already widespread after the pandemic — could worsen.

“All of this could have a chilling effect on innovation and development,” she said during a Texas Vaccine Policy Symposium last month. “Will vaccine manufacturers want to produce vaccines if the market is smaller? Will academic institutions approach vaccine research and development in a challenging climate?” Much remains unclear about how Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plans for the Health and Human Services secretary post will play out. Kennedy, who has repeated baseless claims that vaccines cause autism and other false information, has teased a plan called “Make America Healthy Again.” The plan’s central goal is to eliminate chronic disease. He previously told NPR that federal health authorities under his leadership would not “take vaccines away from anybody.” He also expressed doubt in existing vaccine safety research.