Former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said: he won't take away vaccines From people that President-elect Trump will be inaugurated in January.
Kennedy, who is expected to take office in the second Trump administration, said in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday that he wants Americans to have the information to make informed decisions about vaccines.
Asked if there were any specific vaccines he wanted to take off the market, Kennedy told NBC News: “I'm not going to take anyone's vaccine away.”
“If the vaccine works for someone, I'm not going to take them away. People should get the vaccine.” [a] And that choice should be informed by the best information,” he said.
“So I'm going to make sure that we publish scientific safety studies and efficacy so that people can independently evaluate whether a product is good for them,” Kennedy added. .
The comments came after Howard Lutnick, co-chair of the Trump-Vance transition team, said in an Oct. 30 interview that President Kennedy is trying to prove that the vaccine is unsafe and could eventually pull it from the market. The announcement came after he said he wanted to conduct a study.
In an interview with CNN, Lutnick also disputed reports that Trump had promised to elect Kennedy to be Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“He didn't get the HHS job,” Lutnick said, adding that Kennedy didn't want the job. Mr. Kennedy later disputed this statement.
“He wants the data so he can say, “These things are not secure.'' He said, “If you give me the data, all I want is the data. proves that it is not safe. And if you impose product liability, companies will immediately pull these vaccines off the market,” Lutnick told CNN's Caitlan Collins.
“So that's what he's saying. He's not trying to do anything, he's trying to do what makes sense,” Lutnick added.
The interview raised further questions about what role Kennedy would play in a potential Trump second term.
Kennedy said in an interview Sunday that Trump had “guaranteed” him a second term in the White House. But Kennedy added that he has not yet decided whether he wants to be HHS secretary.
“I want to get into the White House, and he assured me that I would get it,” Kennedy said Sunday when asked about whether he would take the Health and Human Services job. , replied:
“I want to be in the most effective position to end the chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy continued. “And I'm confident that if I wanted to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, the president would fight tooth and nail to make that happen.”
Asked about Lutnick's comments about Kennedy in a separate NBC News interview Sunday, Trump did not rule out banning certain vaccines.
Asked whether he could ban certain vaccines, Trump said of Kennedy: “I'll talk to him, I'll talk to other people, and I'll make a decision, but he's a very talented guy. I have strong views.” It's possible under his administration.
