One Small Step Forward and Two Giant Leaps Back for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr

Anti-vaccine influencers think he is simply being strategic — will the strategy include going to the next child's funeral?

Surprisingly, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr finally made a strong endorsement for people to get vaccinated and protected against measles.

Is the Secretary of HHS actually advocating for vaccines?

After only saying that the measles vaccine is the most effective way to prevent measles, Kennedy finally went all in and said that “we encourage people to get the measles vaccine” and that “people should get the measles vaccine, but…”

One Small Step Forward and Two Giant Leaps Back for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr

Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that Kennedy has finally decided to take the measles outbreaks seriously though.

His “but” was about mandates and that people should make an “informed choice,” something you can’t really do if you listen to Kennedy.

Kennedy doesn’t mention that the child tested positive for measles, nor that pneumonia is a complication of having measles.

And soon after advocating for the MMR vaccine, Kennedy was pushing misinformation in the interview, including that:

• the two unvaccinated children in Texas did not die because they had measles, which of course, isn’t true

• the measles outbreaks are under control and case counts are only going up because of old cases being counted and that the “rate of increase has substantially decreased,” neither of which is true

• we will always have measles because the MMR vaccine wanes very quickly - it doesn’t

• we don’t know the risks, because vaccines are not adequately safety tested, only being tested for three or four days with no placebo group - not true

So instead of the usual anti-vaccine messaging from Kennedy, we are now getting mixed messages…

In addition to publishing a book about measles filled with misinformation, Kennedy has been pushing ineffective methods that he says can prevent measles, like taking vitamin A.

Mixed messages that are not going to stop these outbreaks.

Mixed messages that are going to get even more people killed, as more and more people get caught up in the outbreaks. In addition to those who are intentionally unvaccinated, as cases continue to rise, we will see more people with measles who are too young to be vaccinated and who have true medical exemptions.

One message from Kennedy that folks should take note of - the 127,000 cases and 37 deaths in Europe that he mentioned. Is that where we are headed? But even here he is misleading folks, not talking about the EU, but about Europe as a continent, which includes many more countries.

Maybe then we will get a clear message to help us stop the outbreaks and get everyone vaccinated.

References

Parents are receiving mixed messages about measles from RFK Jr. https://19thnews.org/2025/04/rfk-jr-measles-parents-mixed-messages/

Measles fight stalls as parents confused by Kennedy’s remarks. https://www.staradvertiser.com/2025/04/10/breaking-news/measles-fight-stalls-as-parents-confused-by-kennedys-remarks/

Secretary Kennedy and his policies are a danger to the public’s health https://www.apha.org/news-and-media/news-releases/apha-news-releases/2025/secretary-kennedy-and-his-policies-are-a-danger-to-public-health

European Region reports highest number of measles cases in more than 25 years – UNICEF, WHO/Europe. https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/13-03-2025-european-region-reports-highest-number-of-measles-cases-in-more-than-25-years---unicef--who-europe