Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a polio survivor, announced on Friday that incoming members of President-elect Donald Trump's administration could seek to revoke federal approval of the polio vaccine. issued a stern warning.
McConnell did not mention Health and Human Services secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. by name, but his comments about “dangerous” efforts to roll back vaccinations against viral diseases clearly reflect Democratic politics. It was aimed at the heirs of the dynasty.
“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 also uninformed. It’s dangerous,” McConnell said.
“Those seeking the Senate's consent to take office in the next administration would be wise to avoid even linking themselves to such efforts,” the senator warned.
McConnell's statement comes after Aaron Siri, a lawyer who worked on Kennedy Jr.'s presidential campaign and is helping select federal health officials for the incoming administration, has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to revoke the authorization, The New York Times reported. It was published after it was reported. A polio vaccine is expected to be developed in 2022.
Siri has also filed more than a dozen lawsuits seeking to halt vaccine distribution and helped eliminate some COVID-19 vaccination mandates, according to . outlet.
The lawyer told the Times that the petition was filed on behalf of his client, who argued that he did not want Americans to be prevented from getting vaccinated.
A spokesperson for Kennedy Jr. said of Trump's selection to the Department of Health and Human Services, “Mr. Trump has long said he wants transparency on vaccines and gives people choice.” he pointed out.
McConnell, who will step down as the top Republican in the Senate next year, contracted polio when he was 2 years old and suffers from paralysis in the upper left leg as a result of the disease.
“Like millions of families, my parents knew the pain and fear of watching their child battle a life-altering polio diagnosis,” the senator's statement continued. . “It is thanks to the miraculous combination of modern medicine and my mother's love that a normal life without paralysis has been possible for me since I was two years old.”
“But for the millions of people who came after me, the real miracle was the saving power of the polio vaccine,” McConnell added.
“I have never flinched from standing up against disinformation that threatens the advancement of life-saving medicine, and I will not do so today.”
Kennedy Jr. is scheduled to meet with senators on Capitol Hill next week as part of his efforts to win confirmation for the HHS post.
Just four Republicans would need to join all Democrats and independents to win his confirmation.
