It has been reported today that President-elect Donald Trump has invited anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head a “vaccine safety commission.” This is the response of the Center for Inquiry:

Image/CDC
Image/CDC

It is the height of absurdity for President-elect Trump, who has trafficked in anti-vaccine conspiracies on the campaign trail, to appoint Robert Kennedy Jr. to lead a “vaccine safety” commission. Kennedy is a man whose leadership of the anti-vaccine movement has spawned torrents of misinformation and pseudoscience about vaccines and their effects, and led directly to outbreaks of otherwise preventable infectious diseases, hurting children and the elderly especially, and causing great harm to public health. We call upon the President-elect to rely on evidence, facts, and the counsel of actual scientists and physicians, and to rescind any invitation he has extended to Mr. Kennedy.

The Center for Inquiry, which works to advance reason, science, and secularism, is a staunch advocate of science-based medicine and against medical pseudoscience. CFI has opposed “personal belief” exemptions for mandated vaccinations, have promoted the importance of vaccinations for public health.

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