Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an avowed anti-vaxxer. He has been very outspoken, claiming, falsely, that vaccines cause autism and that the polio vaccine killed many more people than polio ever did. (See his book, “The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health.”)
According to an internationally recognized expert in the fields of immunology and virology, Dr. Paul Offit, Kennedy does not believe in germ theory. Vaccines were developed to kill germs. If there are no germs, than the claims made by vaccine creators are bogus by definition. Kennedy has advocated the use of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as cures for COVID-19, and cod liver oil and vitamin A as cures for measles. This position is wildly contrary to mainstream scientific thought. According to Dr. Offit, germ theory was created to defeat anthrax in 1876. He adds, “Understanding that specific bacteria and viruses caused specific diseases led to treatments like antibiotics and preventatives like vaccines, which has caused us to live 40 years longer than we did in the late-1800s” (“Understanding RFK Jr.”).
Kennedy’s crazy theories and, perhaps worse, his arrogance could make the current measles outbreak (up to 1,001 infected as of May 8) look like child’s play. With the reappearance of once largely defeated diseases (measles, COVID-19 and polio, among others) and the emergence of new ones (bird flu?), millions of lives could be at stake. Is Donald Trump willing to bet the farm that Kennedy is the right person to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services? How many people will have to die before Kennedy is replaced with a real scientist?
Frederick Longacre
Hockessin
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
