Trump said he was ready to let Bobby Jr “go wild” on science and health and he’s doing it:
Federal health officials on Monday announced dramatic revisions to the slate of vaccines recommended for American children, reducing the number of diseases prevented by routine shots to 11 from 17. Jim O’Neill, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has updated the agency’s immunization schedule to reflect the changes, effective immediately, officials said at a news briefing.
The announcement is a seismic shift in federal vaccine policy, and perhaps the most significant change yet in public health practice by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, who has long sought to reduce the number of shots American children receive.
The states, not the federal government, have the authority to mandate vaccinations. But recommendations from the C.D.C. greatly influence state regulations. Mr. Kennedy and his appointees have made other changes to the childhood vaccination schedule, but those have had smaller impact.
The new schedule circumvents the detailed and methodical evidence-based process that has underpinned vaccine recommendations in the nation for decades. Until now, a federal panel of independent advisers typically reviewed scientific data for each new vaccine, and when and how it should be administered to children.
Public health experts expressed outrage at the sweeping revisions, saying federal officials did not present evidence to support the changes or incorporate input from vaccine experts. “The abrupt change to the entire U.S. childhood vaccine schedule is alarming, unnecessary and will endanger the health of children in the United States,” said Dr. Helen Chu, a physician and immunologist at the University of Washington in Seattle and a former member of the federal vaccine advisory committee.
Dr. Chu also took issue with the health officials’ claim that the move would increase trust in vaccines and boost immunization rates. It will do the opposite, she warned. “Already, parents are worried about what they are hearing in the news about safety of vaccines, and this will increase confusion and decrease vaccine uptake,” Dr. Chu said.
This makes me want to cry. There’s no reason to do this. It’s the result of snake oil wellness weirdos and right wing conspiracy theorists taking over our government. Until now we had an excellent record of stopping childhood illnesses that used to sicken and kill many children in this country. For all of our ills as a society this was something we actually did right.
I don’t think anything symbolizes how far down the rabbit hole we’ve fallen. Putting Bobby and his freak show in charge of the nation’s health agencies would be like making Laura Loomer a Pentagon correspondent.
Oh wait… we did that too.