Kennedy Declares Vaccines Safest When Public Fears Them
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled a new federal vaccine policy Sunday under which the measles, mumps and rubella shot remains essential for stopping a major measles surge while also requiring continued investigation into an autism link that decades of research have failed to find. Kennedy outlined the policy during an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, recommending vaccination, defending President Donald Trump’s demand for more research and reminding Bash that she is “not a scientist,” the customary federal response when established evidence becomes argumentative. Administration officials said the policy resolves a longstanding problem in public health by allowing the government to endorse vaccines without creating the dangerous impression that Americans should feel confident receiving them.
Under the new framework, parents are urged to vaccinate their children immediately and then spend the following years wondering whether they committed an irreversible mistake unsupported by medical evidence. Officials described the arrangement as a balanced compromise between preventing disease and preserving every citizen’s constitutional right to suspect that disease prevention is the disease. “Bobby has developed the safest vaccine policy in history because every child gets protection from measles and every parent gets unlimited panic at no additional cost,” Trump said. “Other countries just give the shot. We give the shot, fear, confusion and a beautiful investigation that never has to end.” Kennedy’s supporters praised the approach for freeing health guidance from the rigid expectation that it remain consistent from one sentence to the next.
Critics noted that vaccines do not cause autism and that repeatedly suggesting otherwise undermines vaccination during an outbreak. Health officials dismissed that objection as an extremist demand that medical advice correspond with medical knowledge. The department’s new outbreak protocol will now proceed in four efficient stages: weaken confidence in vaccination, observe declining vaccination rates, recommend vaccination after preventable illness spreads, and investigate why the public became hesitant. Officials are also reviewing similarly flexible guidance declaring seat belts effective but emotionally unresolved, pasteurization useful but suspiciously French, and handwashing a personal choice best studied during a cholera outbreak. Vaccines now work best when the public is instructed not to trust them.
* None of the quotes in this article were spoken by an actual person. More info.