A lawyer who helped select Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for incoming Trump administration officials has tried to get U.S. regulators to revoke the approval of a polio vaccine, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing public health advocacy. Americans, federal lawmakers, and other critics voiced alarm. In 2022.
“The United States is a leader in the global fight to eradicate polio, and polio is on track to become the second disease to be eradicated from the planet, after smallpox,” said Public Citizen Global Campaigns Director. said Lisa Barry. Access to vaccines. “Undermining polio vaccination efforts risks reversing decades of progress and undoing one of the greatest achievements in public health history.”
Public Citizen has criticized President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Kennedy as Secretary of Health and Human Services, with Robert Wiseman, co-chair of the watchdog group, saying, “Kennedy should not be in the building.” ” he said. …much less will he be appointed to head the nation’s public health agency. ”
Kennedy’s nomination requires Senate confirmation, but he has already talked to top medical candidates, with help from attorney Aaron Siri, who represented RFK Jr. in his presidential campaign. The Times reported that they were in talks. Siri also announced a petition asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “rescind or suspend approval of vaccines for polio as well as hepatitis B.” Representing Action Network (ICAN).
According to the newspaper:
Siri is also petitioning the FDA on behalf of ICAN to “pause distribution” of 13 other vaccines, including combination products for tetanus, diphtheria, polio, and hepatitis A. The vaccine’s maker has not yet released details about aluminum, an ingredient that researchers believe is involved. Asthma cases slightly increased.
Siri declined to be interviewed, but said all petitions were filed on behalf of his clients. Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for Mr. Kennedy, said Mr. Siri is advising Mr. Kennedy but has not discussed his petition with any of the health candidates. He added: “Mr Kennedy has long said he wants transparency on vaccines and giving people choice.”
After the article was published, Siri called it “a typical NYT hit written plainly by people lacking basic reading and thinking skills,” prompting a series of reactions on social media. Posted. He wrote in part: “ICAN’s petition to the FDA seeks to withdraw the specific polio vaccine IPOL for infants and children only, pending appropriate clinical trials. It was approved by Sanofi in 1990 based on clinical trials.” The FDA said it reviewed its safety only three days after the injection. ”
The Times reported that Dr. Paul A. Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital, said the placebo-controlled trial would refuse to vaccinate some children with polio because “it would be replacing theoretical risk with real risk.” He pointed out that experts believe that this is unethical. He explained that it was in Philadelphia. “The real risk is illness.”
Ayman Chit, Sanofi’s head of vaccines in North America, told the newspaper that the vaccine’s development began in 1977, that more than 280 million people have been vaccinated worldwide, and that there have been more than 300 studies, including up to six He said there was also a month-long follow-up study. -above.
President Trump, who is less than six weeks away from returning to office, has sent mixed messages about vaccines in recent interviews.
Asked about RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccination history in a Time Magazine Person of the Year interview published Thursday, the president-elect said, “We’re going to be able to do very serious testing,” saying that certain vaccines are being manufactured. He said that there is a possibility that You cannot use it if you think it is dangerous.
President Trump told NBC News over the weekend, “Hey, look, I’m not against vaccines. The polio vaccine is the greatest thing. If someone told me to get rid of the polio vaccine, If so, they will have to work hard to convince them.” I think some vaccines are great, but some may not be. ”
Both comments raised concerns — as did Friday’s report in the Times, which University of Alabama law professor and MSNBC columnist Joyce White Vance called “absolutely horrifying.”
She was never alone. “This is absolutely dangerous and ridiculous,” HuffPost front page editor Philip Lewis said, while Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan said: “We really – and I use this word carefully – “It’s a mess,” he declared.
Ryan Cooper, editor-in-chief of the American Prospect, warned: “They want our children dead.”
Author and musician Mikel Jollette similarly said, “If you’re wondering if Donald Trump is trying to kill children, you’re right.”
Several critics changed President Trump’s campaign slogan to “Make Polio Great Again.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) responded in a video on social media:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a polio survivor, issued a lengthy statement Friday without naming anyone.
“The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and kept its promise to eradicate a terrible disease. Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven treatments are not only uninformed but dangerous. ” he said in part. “Those seeking Senate consent to serve as the next administration would do well to avoid even the appearance of being associated with such efforts.”
