Senate Republican chief Mitch McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, mentioned any of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees in search of affirmation ought to “steer clear” of efforts to discredit the polio vaccine.
“Efforts to undermine public confidence in confirmed cures are usually not simply uninformed — they’re harmful,” McConnell mentioned in a Friday assertion. “Anybody in search of the Senate’s consent to serve within the incoming Administration would do nicely to keep away from even the looks of affiliation with such efforts.”
The 82-year-old lawmaker’s assertion gave the impression to be directed at Trump’s nominee for well being secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after a report that one in every of his advisors filed a petition to revoke approval for the polio vaccine in 2022. It was an indication that Kennedy, who has lengthy superior the debunked concept that vaccines trigger autism, might face resistance within the soon-to-be GOP-controlled Senate.
“Mr. Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine must be accessible to the general public and totally and correctly studied,” mentioned Katie Miller, the transition spokeswoman for Kennedy, in response to questions.
The New York Occasions reported Friday {that a} lawyer who helps Kennedy choose candidates for well being official positions filed a petition to get the federal government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine — extensively thought of to have halted the illness in most components of the world — and pause distribution of a number of different vaccines. The Washington Publish additionally confirmed the petition. The AP has not independently confirmed the petition, which was filed in 2022, in response to the Occasions.
Vaccines have been confirmed to be secure and efficient in laboratory testing and in real-world use in a whole lot of tens of millions of individuals over a long time — they’re thought of among the many best public well being measures in historical past.
McConnell contracted polio at two years outdated however survived, he mentioned Friday, due to “the miraculous mixture of recent drugs and a mom’s love.” He praised the “saving energy” of the polio vaccine for the “tens of millions who got here after me.” Senate Democratic Chief Chuck Schumer additionally responded Friday to the Occasions report. In a publish on X, previously Twitter, he known as it “outrageous and harmful for individuals within the Trump Transition to try to eliminate the polio vaccine that has just about eradicated polio in America and saved tens of millions of lives. He known as on Kennedy to make clear his personal place on it.
Trump nominated Kennedy final month, saying he would work to guard People “from dangerous chemical substances, pollution, pesticides, pharmaceutical merchandise, and meals components.” However his nomination was instantly met with alarm from scientists and public well being officers, who concern Kennedy would unwind life-saving public well being initiatives, like vaccines.
Kennedy has pushed different conspiracy theories concerning vaccines, reminiscent of that Covid-19 might have been “ethnically focused” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese language individuals, feedback he later mentioned have been taken out of context. He has repeatedly introduced up the Holocaust when discussing vaccines and public well being mandates.
Kennedy mentioned he plans to remake the Division of Well being and Human Companies, an company with sprawling attain and a USD 1.3 trillion finances, if he’s accredited. He has instructed the Meals and Drug Administration is beholden to “huge pharma,” and his anti-vaccine nonprofit has known as on it to cease utilizing Covid-19 vaccines.
Throughout the Covid-19 epidemic, his nonprofit group, Kids’s Well being Protection, petitioned the FDA to halt the usage of all Covid vaccines. The group has alleged that the FDA is beholden to “huge pharma” as a result of it receives a lot of its finances from trade charges and a few staff who’ve departed the company have gone on to work for drugmakers.
Kids’s Well being Protection presently has a lawsuit pending towards a variety of information organisations, amongst them The Related Press, accusing them of violating antitrust legal guidelines by taking motion to establish misinformation, together with about Covid-19 and Covid-19 vaccines. Kennedy took go away from the group when he introduced his run for president however is listed as one in every of its attorneys within the lawsuit.
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