Much of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Jan. 30 centered on his views of vaccines.
The three-hour hearing was the second and final one for Mr. Kennedy, who is aiming to secure his nomination as President Donald Trump's pick for HHS secretary. In their questioning on Jan. 30, lawmakers tried to gain a firmer sense of how Mr. Kennedy would approach vaccine messaging as head of the nation's health agency, and whether his views align with established public health guidance on vaccine safety and efficacy.
A day earlier, Mr. Kennedy faced a more than three-hour hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, during which lawmakers pressed him on topics including his plans for Medicare and Medicaid reform, abortion and chronic disease.
Mr. Kennedy needs 51 Senate votes to be confirmed. If all Democrats vote against him, he can afford to lose only three Republican votes. The Finance Committee has indicated it will hold a vote next week but has not scheduled a date.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD, R-La., a physician and chairman of the HELP Committee, is considered a key vote. By the end of the Jan. 30 hearing, Dr. Cassidy said he still had doubts about Mr. Kennedy's "past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments."
Here are five takeaways from the Jan. 30 hearing. A recording of the hearing in its entirety can be found here.
1. Vaccines and autism. Early in the hearing, Dr. Cassidy and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., questioned Mr. Kennedy about past remarks linking vaccines to autism — a claim that has been widely debunked by scientific research. Mr. Kennedy has previously expressed concerns about vaccine safety, including suggesting that certain ingredients may cause autism, despite numerous studies finding no causal link, according to The New York Times. When Dr. Cassidy asked Mr. Kennedy to acknowledge that the measles and hepatitis B vaccines do not cause the condition, Mr. Kennedy responded: "If you show me data, I will be the first person to assure the American people they should take these vaccines"; he did not directly address the question.
2. HPV vaccine safety. Mr. Kennedy said he would recommend patients follow the CDC's guidance for HPV vaccination, which recommends two or three doses between ages 11 and 26. At the same time, he has helped build an ongoing legal case against Merck, maker of the HPV vaccine Gardasil, alleging the vaccine has caused health issues in plaintiffs, ABC News reported Jan. 27. Financial disclosure documents show Mr. Kennedy's main source of income over the past year stems from referral fees from multiple law firms for the civil suit, raising questions about his ability to be impartial if appointed HHS secretary. During the Jan. 30 hearing, Mr. Kennedy said he wouldn't retain the fees from the case, marking a departure from the financial documents filed last week. More than 160 studies have been published supporting the safety of HPV vaccines, and health experts say there is no evidence suggesting a link to health problems.
3. Bird flu and vaccines. Mr. Kennedy's history of questioning the safety and efficacy of vaccines has raised concern among public health experts and some lawmakers surrounding how the Trump administration will respond to the ongoing bird flu outbreak. The administration has been largely silent on response efforts so far. The topic came up briefly when Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., asked whether Mr. Kennedy would be willing to distribute an mRNA bird flu vaccine. Early in the hearing, Mr. Kennedy said he would distribute a bird flu vaccine, but when asked specifically about whether that extends to mRNA vaccines, he offered a less clear response.
"I'm not going to pick a vaccine right now; you know I need to look at all the data," Mr. Kennedy said.
In a June post on X, Mr. Kennedy expressed doubt about the safety of bird flu vaccines stored in the National Strategic Stockpile, saying there is no evidence the shots will work and that they "appear to be dangerous." Since April, there have been at least 67 cases of H5N1 bird flu among humans in the U.S. Federal health officials have reiterated that the outbreak does not pose an immediate threat to public health — an assessment that could change should the virus evolve in ways that make it more adept at spreading among humans.
4. Vaccines and race. The topic of race and vaccination schedule was also mentioned during the hearing. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., asked Mr. Kennedy about comments previously made that suggested Black people should be on different vaccine schedules than white people because "their immune system is better than ours."
Mr. Kennedy responded that multiple studies have found Black people have "much stronger reaction" to vaccines and might require fewer antigens. A 2016 NIH study found that younger Black people had higher antibody responses to an H1N1 component of the flu vaccine, IIV3 or IIV4, compared to younger white people. However, the difference was not detected in older adults. A 2014 Mayo Clinic study also found that Somali Americans developed twice the rubella antibody responses from the existing vaccine at the time compared to white people.
Ms. Alsobrooks told Mr. Kennedy that his suggestions were "so dangerous," and questioned which different vaccine schedule she should receive as a Black female. She also reiterated that his voice would be one parents would listen to when looking to schedule vaccinations for their children. Public health agencies have not recommended different vaccine schedules based on race.
5. Vaccines and children. Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Sanders engaged in multiple heated discussions on Jan. 30, including one about Mr. Kennedy's previous comments regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.
Mr. Sanders asked if Mr. Kennedy thought the COVID-19 vaccine saved lives.
"I'm agnostic because we don't have the science to make that determination," Mr. Kennedy said when pressed for an answer.
Mr. Kennedy explained the reason he is unsure of the vaccine's efficacy is because "we don't have a good surveillance system." However, the CDC frequently evaluates vaccine effectiveness in collaboration with public health partners and said on its website that while the vaccine was "developed rapidly, all steps have been taken to ensure their safety and effectiveness."
The National Institutes of Health also identified 30 studies from Jan. 1 to May 14, 2021, that found 80%-90% efficacy against symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 infections.
Mr. Kennedy said some of his thoughts on the COVID-19 vaccine came from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a safety-monitoring system of FDA-approved vaccines and vaccines that are approved for public health emergency use, according to the CDC.
He also shared skepticism about COVID-19 vaccine benefits for children, however, many medical experts have emphasized the potential risks the illness poses, particularly for unvaccinated children under 6 months old. According to the CDC, around 11% of children have received the most up-to-date COVID-19 vaccine, while 22.8% of adults have received theirs.
Editor's note: This article was updated Jan. 31 at 3 p.m. CT.