Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s option to main the Well being and Human Providers Division, mentioned Monday he is “all for the polio vaccine” in a quick interview with ABC Information, although he didn’t reply to questions on points like college vaccine mandates.
Kennedy was on Capitol Hill to satisfy with Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, and Tim Scott of South Carolina. He may have conferences with extra Republican senators in the course of the week.
Heading into his closing assembly of the day with Tim Scott, Kennedy mentioned his conferences have been “very productive.”
Rick Scott mentioned he and Kennedy had mentioned “transparency” round vaccines.
President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Seaside, Florida, Dec. 16, 2024.
Evan Vucci/AP
“So, what he desires with vaccines is, which is what I imagine in, is transparency,” Rick Scott advised reporters exterior his workplace. “I believe we, we have to know precisely, with all vaccines, what has been the, the analysis and, you recognize, do they work? What’s your threat?”
Kennedy, a former Democrat who allied with Trump in the course of the 2024 election, has confronted questions over a number of of his health-related beliefs.
He has up to now promoted the debunked idea linking vaccines to autism, and a lawyer serving to Kennedy rent staffers for the incoming administration has pushed for the revocation of the federal approval for the polio vaccine. His assist of abortion rights might threaten assist from Republicans, and his opposition to issues like hog farm subsidies for seed oils, amongst different issues, might irk senators from agriculture-heavy states.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be the following Well being and Human Providers Secretary, arrives to satisfy with U.S. Senators on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 16, 2024.
Saul Loeb/AFP through Getty Photos
To make sure, Trump’s insurance policies are anticipated to rule the day inside his personal administration for the following 4 years, however Kennedy’s tour on Capitol Hill might look to allay some considerations voiced by Republicans, together with outgoing Senate GOP Chief Mitch McConnell, Ky.
“Efforts to undermine public confidence in confirmed cures should not simply uninformed — they’re harmful,” McConnell, a polio survivor, mentioned in a press release Friday. “Anybody searching for the Senate’s consent to serve within the incoming Administration would do properly to keep away from even the looks of affiliation with such efforts.”
Presently, all 50 states and Washington, D.C., have legal guidelines requiring vaccines to attend faculties, though many provide exemptions.
Trump, throughout a press convention Monday, dismissed worries that Kennedy would dispose of the polio vaccine however mentioned he is “not an enormous mandate particular person” and that Kennedy would examine the affect of immunizations.
“I would like him to return again with a report as to what he thinks. We will discover out quite a bit,” he mentioned.
