“The reason people have lost faith in the program is because they have been lying to civil servants every year,” the health secretary says.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended a recent statement on the vaccine during the May 14th council hearing.
“We’re going to tell you the truth about everything we know, we don’t know about the vaccine,” Kennedy told Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) while testifying before the Senate Health Committee. “If you know there’s a problem, you don’t want to tell people that everything is safe and effective. You need to respect people’s intelligence.”
Several lawmakers expressed concern over Kennedy’s recent comments. This includes protections that measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines will decline over time.
“The outcome is to undermine our belief in vaccines,” Murphy said.
“Listen, I think you should swim in that lake, but I think the lake is probably toxic. There are probably a lot of snakes and crocodiles in that lake, but I think you should swim.” If that’s what you’re saying, no one is going to swim in that lake.
Kennedy replied, “If I advise you to swim in a lake you knew it was a crocodile, wouldn’t you want them to say there are crocodiles?” “I replied.
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He added: “The reason people have lost faith in this program is because they have been lying by civil servants every year.”
Several outbreaks of measles have appeared in the United States this year. This includes the outbreak in Texas, which has spread to hundreds of people. Texas officials say most patients have not been vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown.
“We’re always going to have measles because the vaccines will decline so quickly,” Kennedy said recently at City Hall.
Kennedy testified to the Senate Committee and the House Approximately Expenditure Committee. It was the first time he had appeared before Congress since being confirmed in February.
Rep. Mark Pokan (d-wis.) asked Kennedy. Kennedy said his child received the typical vaccine as a child.
“Maybe,” Kennedy said. “I don’t think my opinion on vaccines is irrelevant.
“I don’t think people should give me medical advice. If I answer that question directly, it would look like I’m giving advice to others, and I wouldn’t want to do that,” Kennedy said.
Pokan tried to get the same question to answer about the Chicken Pox and the polio vaccine. The Health Secretary is relaxed.
Republicans largely avoided the vaccine during the hearing. Many of them praised the development under Kennedy, including focusing on banning several artificial dyes and reducing health agencies.
“I did more to shed light on what the average American can do to do healthier things than almost every secretary I can remember,” Sen. John Husted (R-Ohio) said, “Thank you for the service.”
