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Robert F. Kennedy Jr has faced pushback on social media after claiming that the US is ‘doing a better job than any country’ in controlling the measles outbreak.
It comes after a historic resurgence of measles in the US this year. This month, Pennsylvania reported the first measles deaths in the United States this year, and the first in the state in 35 years.
Both deceased individuals - who are not being identified by the state - were unvaccinated residents of Lancaster County, according to health officials.
“And all of this suffering and hospitalization and death is entirely preventable. Why is it that the most vulnerable among us, our children, are forced to suffer our ignorance,” Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease expert at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told The Independent in an email.
Speaking at a press conference in Tampa, Kennedy took questions about the Pennsylvania cases.
“We’re doing a better job than any country in the world in controlling the measles outbreak,” Kennedy said.
The comments received pushback on social media.
One user wrote: “The U.S. is experiencing its worst measles outbreak since elimination in 2000.
“The numbers speak for themselves. How is this considered success?”
"Then why is it making a comeback?" one said.
Recently, there has been fresh criticism levelled at health secretary and anti-vaxxer Kennedy Jr over his past comments on the virus and how to treat it.
This week, a video of RFK Jr addressing a crowd in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 2021 has resurfaced, in which he shared what he claimed was the “cure” for measles.
“The cure for measles is chicken soup and vitamin A, and neither of those things can be patented,” he said.
RFK Jr has been criticised for misleading claims about vaccines, including saying “I do believe that autism does come from vaccines” when speaking to Fox News presenter Jesse Watters.
Autism has been tied to vaccines due to a flawed study by disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield in The Lancet back in 1998, falsely suggesting a link between the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine and autism.
Ahead of him being confirmed as the new health secretary by the US Senate, Kennedy Jr told a Senate confirmation hearing that he is neither “anti-vaccine or anti-industry”, but rather “pro-safety”.
He also reversed his stance on the MMR jab last year, amid an outbreak of measles in Texas, penning a piece for Fox News Digital promoting the vaccine.
Why not read…
- RFK Jr’s bizarre measles treatment resurfaces as two Americans die from disease
- 'The jokes write themselves': RFK Jr's ringtone rang mid-speech and it has to be heard to be believed
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