NEW YORK — Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to “Make America Healthy Again” as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services, petitioned the government to stop use of all COVID-19 vaccines in the heart of the pandemic. Kennedy petitioned the Food and Drug Administration in May 2021, asking that the agency revoke authorization for COVID vaccines, The New York Times reported on Friday.
Kennedy, who has a long history of spreading vaccine conspiracy theories, was a vocal opponent of preventative measures during the pandemic. In 2022, at a rally organized by his group Children’s Health Defense, he compared measures around COVID to circumstances during the Holocaust. “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps to Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did,” he said. He later apologized.
The petition to stop COVID vaccinations was filed on behalf of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit that Kennedy founded. The organization has also filed more than two dozen lawsuits about vaccines and public health. In November, the Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the group to shield doctors in Washington state who were under investigation for spreading misinformation about COVID.
Last week, over 17,000 doctors signed a letter urging senators to reject his nomination to lead HHS.
