In a Nov. 3 interview with NBC News, former president Donald Trump said he will "make a decision" on whether to ban some vaccines based on Robert Kennedy Jr.'s recommendations.
If elected for a second term, Mr. Trump has hinted at a healthcare role for Mr. Kennedy, who has been an outspoken critic of vaccines for children for years.
"Well, I’m going to talk to [Mr. Kennedy] and talk to other people, and I'll make a decision, but he's a very talented guy and has strong views," Mr. Trump told NBC News about the potential of banning select vaccines.
A U.S. president cannot ban vaccines unilaterally but can influence public health through federal agency appointments aimed at changing recommendations or removing approvals. Pediatricians told the outlet they are concerned about vaccination rates falling even lower, leading to preventable outbreaks.
Already, vaccine hesitancy has been associated with rising infection rates, according to a study by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. And in late 2022, 28% of parents said in a KFF survey that they should be able to decide not to vaccinate their children — an increase from 16% in 2019.
"It's much easier to scare people than to unscare them," Adam Ratner, MD, director of pediatric infectious diseases at NYU Langone Health's Hassenfeld Children's Hospital in New York City, told NBC News. "Many people have a fear of doing something that may cause harm, but they don’t think a lot about the potential harm of not doing something."