A Major Victory for Vaccine Opponents
November 2024
On April 19, 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the founder of the organization Children's Health Defense (CHD), announced his decision to run for president of the United States as a candidate of the Democratic Party. About six months later, he changed course and chose to run as an independent. Then, on August 23, 2024, Kennedy ended his campaign and declared his support for Donald Trump's candidacy. With Trump's backing, Kennedy and his team launched the Make America Healthy Again campaign, in which, according to Kennedy, public health would take precedence over corporate profits.
Additionally, Kennedy has pledged to raise awareness of the rising autism rates among children, citing his widely held belief that vaccines are responsible for this increase. He stated that, if elected, one of his first actions would be to gain access to the CDC's vaccine safety data, which his team would analyze to determine the safety of vaccines.
This approach presents a significant boost for anti-vaccine proponents and poses a considerable challenge for health authorities, who will need to counter trends that could negatively impact childhood vaccination rates.
Nati Elkin
