Newly appointed Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared to dismiss a uncommon measles outbreak that has killed a toddler in Texas and sickened greater than 120 folks.
“It is not unusual, we have measles outbreaks every year,” the controversial politician stated throughout Trump’s first cupboard assembly Wednesday afternoon.
Kennedy then went on to incorrectly state that two folks have died from the outbreak, when a number of officers had solely confirmed one loss of life as of Wednesday. He additionally stated the vast majority of hospitalizations have been “mainly for quarantine,” which well being officers have additionally denied.
“We don’t hospitalize patients for quarantine purposes,” Dr. Lara Johnson, the chief medical officer at Covenant Youngsters’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, stated at a Wednesday press convention. She added that a lot of the sufferers hospitalized for measles have suffered from bother respiration, some have required intensive care and none of them have been vaccinated in opposition to the illness.
The CDC has thanked the widespread use of the measles vaccine for basically eliminating the illness since 2000. Nevertheless, instances of the measles have been rising in recent times as vaccine hesitancy has elevated over time.
A very giant anti-vaccination motion emerged in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was championed by media personalities like Kennedy. His nomination to grow to be the nation’s twenty sixth Well being and Human Providers Secretary was met with appreciable objection from the medical group. Greater than 17,000 medical doctors signed a letter urging the Senate to reject his bid.
RFK Jr. assured his fellow cupboard members Wednesday that his workforce is “following the measles epidemic every day.”
Initially Revealed: February 26, 2025 at 8:29 PM EST
