Overview
- HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke at the Children’s Health Defense conference on Thursday and told attendees they had “a strong and steadfast friend at the White House.”
- In the more than hour‑long address Kennedy questioned routine childhood vaccine safety and said HHS is pursuing new safety studies and policy changes on vaccine timing and recommendations.
- The speech comes as the United States faces its largest measles outbreak in decades, with news reports this year documenting more than 3,000 cases nationwide and four measles‑associated deaths reported in Pennsylvania.
- Kennedy’s measures at HHS — including replacing members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and narrowing some vaccine guidance — have already been hit with lawsuits and a federal judge paused several changes while litigation proceeds.
- Public‑health experts, state officials and medical groups say Kennedy’s appearance lends credibility to anti‑vaccine messaging, risks lowering vaccination rates, and raises political and legal questions that could shape federal policy before the midterm elections.