RFK Jr., America's loudest anti-vaxxer, confirmed as health secretary

www.huffpost.com

RFK Jr., America's Loudest Anti-Vaxxer, Confirmed As Health Secretary

Summary

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal vaccine skeptic, has been confirmed as Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services in a 52-48 Senate vote.

Public health experts strongly oppose his appointment, warning he could undermine vaccination efforts and public trust in science. Kennedy has spread misinformation about vaccines, HIV, and other health issues.

Trump has signaled Kennedy will have broad authority over health policies. Despite claiming he now supports vaccines, his past statements raise concerns.

Medical organizations and experts overwhelmingly condemned his confirmation, calling it a "slap in the face."

22 comments

I guess (some) societies need to be reminded every three generations or so how infectious disease transmission really works.. the hard way. Sigh.
(Same for fascism and tariff economics I suppose.)
- We just had a pandemic, it's not like anyone didn't know how germ theory and vaccines work.
  
  conspiracy theorists, uh, find a way
  
  One pandemic yes, but what about second pandemic ?
- I guess (some) societies need to be reminded every three generations or so how infectious disease transmission really works.. the hard way. Sigh.
  It's only been like 5 years since we tried to learn the lesson the last time......
- Thr specialty I want to go into is infectious disease. Business will be booming I guess, and not in a good way.
Absolutely horrifying
Time for blue states to have a state level NIH and FDA etc etc. replicate every federal protection agency that they destroy. Employ the ex-federal workers. Let the red states rot and waste away.
- But I'm stuck in a red state. Admittedly I'm in the purplest part of it, but still. ಠ_ಠ
  
  Sucks, bruh. Sorry.
- he sounds like he smoked 160,000 cigarettes over 40 years
He'll enable the reddest parts of the country in their war on modern medicine and public health. I'm sure the bluest parts of the country will either fight him tooth and nail or at least refuse to cooperate with most of his insane nonsense. In the long run, this will hurt Republicans more than anyone else.
Hopefully the next pandemic can make the consequences quick and devastating. The harder those areas get hit up front, and particularly the more rapidly shit spreads between the idiots who refuse to do anything to slow the spread of disease, the less harm they'll be able to inflict on those of us who haven't embraced Nurgle as our lord and savior.
- That sounds good from a 'own the conservatives' perspective. But, from a 'Lets not die to a pandemic' perspective, there is no world where cheering for the rapid spread of a communicable disease is a win for anybody who enjoys breathing.
  
  Gotta find some sort of silver lining, what the fuck else can we do?
  
  Has nothing to do with owning the conservatives. It's recognizing that these policies and attitudes will cost lives and inflict suffering on a lot of innocent people. The more traction they get, and the more time they have to become entrenched, the harder it will be to roll them back. Since the pandemic people have been reframing their anti-vax positions as being religious convictions, and treating the right to spread disease and oppose public health as a fundamental freedom. That kind of opposition might take decades, or even generations to overcome.
  One of the few things that can prevent that trend is an outbreak of something truly terrifying. Something visibly awful with a high mortality rate will cause most of these people to suddenly be ok with anything that keeps them protected. Better that these idiots get mugged by reality in a swift and brutal fashion than letting them linger and cause the slow and steady stream of human suffering. Ultimately, the fast and painful lesson will kill far fewer people than the attrition that will come from many smaller, milder outbreaks that spread outward in wave after wave for the foreseeable future.
Key nervous laughter and state of impending doom
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412022000472
This is not the last straw.
This is truly horrifying.
Yeah, but he is pro brain worm so there's that.

22 comments