Featured Image Credit: Win McNamee / Staff / Getty
RFJ Jr. has made some alarming comments about the recent measles outbreak and suggests a bizarre 'solution'.
When it comes to President Donald Trump's new cabinet, he made some interesting choices when it comes to running the country. Outspoken voices, including JD Vance, Pam Bondi, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., make up some of his closest allies, but few have been as controversial as the latter. As well as referring to the POTUS' diet as 'poison', RFK has pitched himself as the peak of physical health, is often snapped pumping iron, and has vowed to overhaul the American food system.
Not all of the Health and Human Services Secretary's ideas have been welcomed by everyone, with RFK being called out for his supposed 'solution' to a recent measles outbreak.
Speaking to Fox News, RFK suggested the best way to become immune to measles is to become infected and went on to refer to the supposed ‘dangers’ of the vaccine.
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Sitting inside a Steak & Shake restaurant, RFK told Sean Hannity: "It used to be — when you and I were kids — that everybody got measles. And the measles gave you lifetime protection against measles infection.
"The vaccine doesn’t do that. The vaccine is effective for some people for life, for many people it wanes."
Although measles was officially eradicated in the USA in 2000, thanks to a two-dose national vaccination campaign, other cases originating from foreign travel have been reported. Now, it looks like measles is back with a vengeance, as well as claims that RFK is spreading some dangerous theories.
Infecting nearly 200 people in West Texas, the measles outbreak has been linked to the potential deaths of two unvaccinated people, with one being in New Mexico. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also reported cases in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York City, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington state.
Given that the CDC estimates up to three cases in every 1,000 childhood measles infections result in death, RFK pushing purposeful infection through herd immunity has raised concerns.
The CDC also reports that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is effective and safe, with two doses in early childhood offering 97% protection against measles. Still, the vaccine-skeptical RFK suggests otherwise.
Continuing his chat with Hannity, RFK added: "There are adverse events from the vaccine. It does cause deaths every year. It causes all the illnesses that measles itself causes — encephalitis, blindness, et cetera.
"So people ought to be able to make that choice for themselves."
He concluded by saying that the vaccine doesn't appear to offer maternal immunity: "It used to be that very young kids […] they were protected by breast milk, and by maternal immunity. Women who get vaccinated do not provide that level of maternal immunity to the natural measles infection, so you’re now seeing measles hit very very young kids and hitting older people."
RFK has previously come under fire for saying it's 'impossible' to be killed by an infectious disease in modern times if you have good nutrition, while he's also suggested that doses of Vitamin A could provide protection.
As the Health and Human Services Secretary's claims continue to be debunked, there are concerns about spreading the message of his so-called measles solution.
