WASHINGTON — Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) on Wednesday tore into Health and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for downplaying a toddler’s loss of life in a measles outbreak in Texas, saying she blames Kennedy for the tragedy due to his lengthy file of spreading disinformation about vaccines.
State well being officers confirmed Wednesday that an unvaccinated youngster in rural West Texas had died amid the outbreak, turning into the primary U.S. loss of life from measles since 2015. Measles is very contagious however preventable with vaccines. Requested later in the identical day in regards to the unnamed youngster’s loss of life throughout the first Cupboard assembly of President Donald Trump’s new administration, Kennedy mentioned solely that measles outbreaks are “not unusual” and that “we have measles outbreaks every year.”
Schrier, who’s a pediatrician, was surprised by Kennedy’s response.
“He’s full of, you can put four letters there,” she instructed HuffPost. “Starts with an ‘S.’”
The truth that a toddler has died from a vaccine-preventable illness is “devastating,” Schrier mentioned. “And by the way, I do blame him and others like him who, for the past 20 years, have been spreading lies about vaccines, which are safe and effective. And that has been proven time and again. This is settled science.”
Requested for touch upon whether or not Kennedy believes everybody ought to get vaccinated for measles, a spokesperson for the Division of Health and Human Companies pointed to a Thursday assertion launched by the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention and mentioned it “speaks for itself.”
The spokesperson particularly cited this part of CDC’s assertion: “Vaccination remains the best defense against measles infection. Measles does not have a specific antiviral treatment. Supportive care, including vitamin A administration under the direction of a physician, may be appropriate.”
This spokesperson didn’t present touch upon Schrier blaming Kennedy for the loss of life of the unvaccinated youngster in Texas due to his lengthy historical past of sowing doubts about vaccines based mostly on conspiracies as an alternative of science.
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As of Tuesday, the Texas Division of State Health Companies has reported 124 circumstances of measles since late January, the most important outbreak the state has seen in almost 30 years. The overwhelming majority of those circumstances are youngsters, and all however 5 of those circumstances are in people who find themselves unvaccinated or with an unknown vaccination standing.
Measles vaccines had been first developed within the Nineteen Sixties after which mixed with vaccines for mumps and rubella within the Nineteen Seventies. Measles was thought-about eradicated within the U.S. in 2000. However there have been outbreaks now and again, and Schrier mentioned it’s due to individuals like Kennedy, who has a excessive profile and has denigrated vaccines dozens of occasions.
He has repeatedly promoted the false declare that vaccines trigger autism, one thing he did as just lately as 2023 in a Fox Information interview. In a podcast interview that very same yr, Kennedy mentioned, “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.” In 2021, he urged individuals to “resist” pointers issued by the CDC on when youngsters ought to get vaccinated.
Throughout a 2019 measles epidemic in Samoa that left 80 youngsters lifeless, Kennedy wrote to the nation’s prime minister, falsely claiming the measles vaccine was in all probability inflicting the deaths.
“People like him keep telling vulnerable parents that there’s something wrong with vaccines,” Schrier mentioned. “They are preying on these parents, and that has a direct line to the death of this child.”
Home Republicans have scoffed at her calls to carry Kennedy accountable for outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses.
Throughout a Home Vitality and Commerce Committee listening to on Tuesday, Schrier requested Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), who chairs a subcommittee on oversight and investigations, to decide to bringing in Kennedy to reply questions if one other outbreak happens. He mentioned he’d present oversight of your entire authorities. When Schrier pressed for an precise dedication on Kennedy, Palmer repeated that his previous remark was “the commitment you’re going to get.”
A number of GOP members of the panel laughed at his snarky response. Schrier, surprised, puzzled aloud why lawmakers had been treating preventable deaths of youngsters like a laughing matter.
“They just thought it was a big joke,” she instructed HuffPost. “It’s outrageous. We’re going back decades, maybe even longer than decades, if diseases like polio and measles come back.”
Right here’s a clip of Republicans laughing off Schrier’s request.
The Washington state congresswoman additionally referred to as out Republican senators who voted this month to verify Kennedy to his highly effective submit atop HHS, regardless of realizing he spent many years rejecting science and pushing conspiracies about vaccines inflicting autism. Kennedy was confirmed on a party-line vote, apart from one GOP senator who voted no: Mitch McConnell, a childhood polio survivor.
Sen. Invoice Cassidy (R-La.), who’s a doctor and chairs the Senate’s high well being committee, briefly waffled on whether or not he would assist Kennedy’s nomination. He particularly raised considerations about Kennedy’s file of spreading lies about vaccine security. However ultimately, he supported him.
A Cassidy spokesperson didn’t reply to a request for remark about Kennedy downplaying the measles epidemic in Texas.
“Every Republican senator who voted to confirm him as secretary of Health and Human Services knew that this was going to happen,” Schrier mentioned, referring to the kid who died from measles.
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Scientists are already on edge about the potential of Kennedy utilizing his place to sow doubts about vaccines. On Wednesday, a panel of scientific consultants that advises the Meals and Drug Administration on vaccine coverage realized that its upcoming assembly to debate subsequent yr’s flu vaccines had been canceled. No cause was given.
Schrier mentioned measles is “one of the most contagious diseases I have ever dealt with” as a pediatrician. The Texas outbreak is especially worrisome, she famous, because it has unfold into New Mexico and has well being officers on excessive alert in Louisiana ― Cassidy’s house state.
“There have been outbreaks, but this is a big one,” she mentioned. “And [Kennedy] has contributed to it.”
