by Health and human service secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. again spread misleading claims about the safety and efficacy of the measles vaccine in the midst of an outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico.
In an interview with the Sean Hannity broadcast from FOX News Tuesday, Kennedy said that “natural immunity” after getting a measles infection is more effective in offering permanent protection against the disease. Kennedy, however, omitted that the dangers of catching the disease on roads than the advantage of immunity, according to doctors.
“It used to be when you and I were children, everyone had measles,” Kennedy told Hannity. “And measles gave you protection, lifelong protection against measles infection. The vaccine does not do that. The vaccine is effective for some people, for life, but many people decrease. “
Despite the claims of Kennedy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the majority of people who have protected the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and the measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (mmrv) vaccins for life. The CDC also has guidelines for people who recommend it must be transferred.
Prior to the introduction of the vaccine in 1963, around 500,000 cases and 500 measles deaths were reported per year, while the real number of cases was suspected that it was much higher, the agency said. Since then, the incidence of the disease has fallen by more than 95%, it said.
Kennedy added that he would ensure that “everyone who wants a vaccine can get one” and notes that he forces him to take it.
“I am a freedom of choice,” said Kennedy. “We should have transparency. We should have had the choice. And – but if people don’t want it, the government should not force them to do it. There are side effects from the vaccine. It causes killing every year. It causes all diseases that causes measles themselves. “
The CDC has emphasized that the measles vaccine is safe and effective. The website contains extensive information about the vaccine, including possible side effects and warnings for people who should not be vaccinated.
Kennedy’s skepticism around vaccines is well documented. Even he admitted that the measles vaccine “stops the spread of the disease.”
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Since the beginning of the year, the US has seen three outbreaks of measles, including one in the South Plains region in Texas. Since the end of January, about 223 cases have been reported since the end of January, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Tuesday, including one deadly in a schoolgirl that was not vaccinated.
In a separate recent interview with Fox News, Kennedy said, without evidence, malnutrition and lack of access to fresh food ‘perhaps a problem in her death’.
New Mexico also confronts an outbreak of measles with a total of 33 cases. An adult who was infected with the disease in the state died last week, although the virus has not yet been confirmed as the official cause of death.
