Comments closedI think we are on the verge of losing vaccines for this country, from this country. And the reason is that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will hold up a paper, in the next four or five months, that says it’s aluminum in vaccines that are causing a whole swath of problems, including autism. I think he is about to destroy vaccines in this country. I do.
TORONTO – As Dr. Theresa Tam prepares to leave her position next week, Canada’s top doctor says it’s more important than ever for Canada to stand up for science and combat disinformation.
She’s held the role of chief public health officer for eight years, but became a household name in the last five years as she led the country’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her term ends June 20 and she doesn’t have another job lined up, Tam said in a wide-ranging interview Friday that touched on her desire to be remembered for more than COVID, her passion for health equity and the musical side of her the public hasn’t seen.
Comments closedWASHINGTON — Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday unveiled the names of the eight new members who will sit on the panel of experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine policy, and said they would review the current vaccine schedule, as well as evaluate new shots.
The new members include several well-known critics of vaccines.
“The slate includes highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America’s most accomplished physicians,” Kennedy wrote in a post on X.
The appointment comes just days after Kennedy dismissed every member of the committee, calling for a “clean slate” with new members. The committee is scheduled to hold a meeting later this month.
Comments closedWith Donald Trump’s second administration, disruptive news seems to arise on a daily basis. Most concerning for clinicians and health scientists in Canada and around the world was Trump’s appointment of anti-vaccination zealot Robert Kennedy Jr. to the enormously influential position of Secretary of Health and Human Services. Kennedy’s ideological dismantling of the U.S.’s vaunted health research apparatus has been at speeds surprising even to his most ardent critics.
But his recent decision to cancel a nearly $600-million contract with vaccine manufacturer Moderna might be among his most shortsighted and destructive moves, with ripple effects globally.
The contract with the mRNA pioneer, signed under the Joe Biden administration, was meant to fund the development, testing and licensing of vaccines targeting particular flu strains, including the strain responsible for the dreaded avian flu, H5N1. Many scientists fear that H5N1 could become the next world-stopping infectious disease pandemic.
Comments closedThe White House downplayed questions about its flagship report on children’s health, but edited the document Thursday after authors listed in the paper confirmed it cited studies that do not exist.
The highly anticipated “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) report was released on May 22 by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the presidential commission tasked with assessing drivers of childhood chronic disease.
But authors and publishers of at least four studies listed in the original document told AFP they or their organizations were credited with papers they did not write — or that never existed.
Comments closedTORONTO — Canada’s gynecologists say COVID-19 vaccination “remains safe and strongly recommended” during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada issued the assurance Wednesday, a day after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a longtime anti-vaccine activist — declared the shot is no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women south of the border.
Pregnant women who become infected with COVID-19 are at higher risk of severe illness requiring hospitalization and intensive care than women who are not pregnant, the SOGC said.
Getting the COVID-19 vaccine also helps protect against serious complications associated with the virus, such as preterm birth, it said.
Comments closedHealth secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed another unorthodox view on vaccines, with the long-time vaccine critic declaring that vaccines for respiratory bugs that target a sole part of the pathogen they are meant to protect against do not work.
The claim was dismissed as erroneous by vaccine experts, who were befuddled by the secretary’s theory, espoused during an interview with CBS News.
Kennedy made the claim in explaining a controversial recent decision by political appointees at the Food and Drug Administration to delay granting a full license to Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine, which is still given under an emergency use authorization or EUA.
Comments closedWASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Donald Trump’s health secretary, putting the prominent vaccine skeptic in control of $1.7 trillion in federal spending, vaccine recommendations and food safety as well as health insurance programs for roughly half the country.
Comments closedWe are witnessing one of the worst and most costly foreign policy blunders in U.S. history. Less than three weeks into Donald Trump’s second term, he, Elon Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have halted the U.S. Agency for International Development’s aid programs around the world. In so doing, they have imperiled millions of lives, thousands of American jobs and billions of dollars of investment in American small businesses and farms while severely undermining our national security and global influence — all while authoritarians and extremists celebrate their luck.
I am shocked by the gleeful assault perpetrated by our own government against U.S.A.I.D.’s programs and the public servants who work on them. But after running the agency for four years, I am not surprised that the attacks are being cheered by Moscow and Beijing. They understand what those seeking to dismantle the agency are desperate to hide from the American people: U.S.A.I.D. has become America’s superpower in a world defined by threats that cross borders and amid growing strategic competition.
Comments closedLast week the province of Alberta published a report on its pandemic-response calling for COVID vaccines to be restricted to “high-risk groups” and to stop “their use in healthy children and teenagers.” A mix of vaccine skeptics, fringe academics, and a Trump-appointee were behind it.
The report also recommends regulators, namely the province’s medical licensing body, be stripped of powers to discipline doctors who promote risky and ineffective off-label treatments.
The report has garnered nationwide criticism from the scientific and medical communities, with dozens of experts calling on the government to officially dismiss the report in an open letter. Dr. Joss Reimer, president of the Canadian Medical Association, said the report was “an unfortunate use of public dollars” that funneled CAD$2,000,000 into furthering misinformation. She said it will cause harm globally, as it will be referenced in jurisdictions outside of Canada.
Comments closedWASHINGTON (AP) — The man who hopes to be President Donald Trump’s health secretary repeatedly asked to see “data” or “science” showing vaccines are safe – but when an influential Republican senator showed him evidence, he dismissed it.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent two days this week insisting to senators that he’s not anti-vaccine. He said that he instead supports vaccinations and will follow the science in overseeing the $1.7 trillion Department of Health and Human Services, which, among other duties, oversees vaccine research, approval and recommendations.
But Kennedy repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus that childhood vaccines don’t cause autism and that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives, and he falsely asserted the government has no good vaccine safety monitoring. While appearing to ignore mainstream science, he cited flawed or tangential research to make his points, such as suggesting Black people may need different vaccines than whites.
Comments closedFalse narratives in a new $2-million report on COVID 19 in Alberta send Albertans the wrong signals, said a former chief medical officer of health for the province.
An adjunct professor at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health, Dr. James Talbot said the 269-page report released late last Friday cherry-picks information and includes unproven ideas, including that the vaccine is ineffective and potentially harmful.
“We’ve given literally billions of doses of this vaccine around the world with the best surveillance we’ve ever had. This is one of the safest, most effective vaccines that we’ve ever had,” he said.
Comments closedCNN’s Arlette Saenz reports on video shared by Caroline Kennedy warning senators to reject her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary ahead of confirmation hearings on Wednesday.
Comments closedComments closedI think it was a waste of time. It was a waste of money. And under no circumstances should the recommendations be implemented until there’s been a full and expert public discussion of the report.
An Alberta government task force has recommended that the use of COVID-19 vaccines be halted unless more information is provided about risk, in a report rife with suggestions that run counter to mainstream scientific consensus.
The $2-million task force’s final report, released Friday, touched on several points common with disinformation campaigns such as the effectiveness of public health restrictions and masking, while also recommending some government authority over media.
Comments closedTheir numbers are dwindling now, the faded yellow newspaper clippings reporting their childhood trips to the hospital tucked away in family scrapbooks. Iron lungs, the coffin-like cabinet respirators that kept many of them alive, are a thing of the past, relegated to history books and museums. Some feel the world has forgotten them.
Now the nation’s polio survivors are reliving their painful memories as they watch events in Washington, where the Senate will soon consider the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a fierce critic of vaccines, to be the nation’s next health secretary. And they are keeping a close eye on one of their own: Senator Mitch McConnell, the former Republican leader.
It has been nearly 70 years since Dr. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine was pronounced “80 to 90 percent effective” against the paralytic form of the disease. Although the government does not keep official numbers, advocacy groups say there are an estimated 300,000 survivors in the United States. Mr. Kennedy’s nomination has prompted some to speak out.
Comments closedA new coalition of more than 700 public health professionals, scientists and activists signed an open letter to oppose Senate confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, saying his “fringe” views and inexperience would put the country at serious risk from severe infectious diseases.
The letter from the coalition called “Defend Public Health” said Kennedy’s “unfounded, fringe beliefs could significantly undermine public health practices across the country and around the world.”
Comments closed