As health chief, RFK Jr. and his agencies have taken big steps to weaken trust in vaccine safety and effectiveness.

Question

As health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the agencies he leads have taken far-reaching steps to undermine confidence in vaccine efficacy and safety.

Answer 1

The New York Times is a reputable source so there isn't any questions about the facts that they have presented regarded what RFK has done surrounding vaccines. There have been other sources that have released similar stories to this one like Politico where they discussed Kennedy considering to remove the recommendation for children to get immunized against COVID-19, and in Science where they brought up how RFK sowed seeds of mistrust against vaccine advisors because he stated that they were influenced heavily by industry. In this article written by the NYT they delve into the measures he has taken to delegitimize vaccines. It should be noted that they aren't saying that he's avidly anti-vaccine, just that he is undermining vaccines trustworthiness and necessity. He recently advocated for the MMR vaccine , so there have been instances where he has actually done the opposite. This article is simply stating what he has done to go against it, because despite this he has taken certain actions that have caused harm to vaccines and the groups that end up being targeted as a result of an anti-vaccine ideology. So while there is a lot of validity to the NYT's initial claim, I may say this is a bit exaggerated given that he has also had instances where he has endorsed vaccines as well.

Answer 2

I wouldn't necessarily say that this post is true. However, there is also a large component of this that is rooted in fact. While RFK Jr. has been an outspoken critic of vaccine efficacy and safety, his agency's steps rely on misinformation being spread. The campaign against vaccination is mainly reliant on misinformed populations, which Kennedy and his associates do benefit from. Further, while RFK Jr. does have federal power, vaccine mandates are reliant on state authority, meaning that vaccine requirements vary by state.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/29/top-us-vaccine-official-resigns-over-rfk-jrs-misinformation-and-lies-dr-peter-marks

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0mzk2y41zvo

https://www.nytimes.com/article/rfk-conspiracy-theories-fact-check.html