Letter to the Editor, The New York Times, by Irwin Redlener
Re “Judge Rejects Kennedy’s Limits for Child and Covid Vaccines” (front page, March 17):
The effects of a federal judge’s ruling against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s assault on evidence-based vaccine policies can’t be overstated.
Mr. Kennedy’s ideological crusade of misinformation against sound public health recommendations has already fueled dozens of outbreaks of measles, resulting in thousands of infections (most among children and teens) and at least three deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 90 percent of infections were in unvaccinated individuals.
Moreover, Mr. Kennedy and some of his advisers are pushing the concept of shared clinical decision making, suggesting that parents, in consultation with their doctor, should individually determine whether or not to vaccinate their children. But that paradigm misses the point of public health policies designed to protect the whole community from dangerous, highly contagious diseases that are preventable with safe and effective vaccines.
The fact that Mr. Kennedy, who runs the world’s largest and most powerful public health agency, fails to understand the difference between personal medical decisions that do not affect others and the government’s responsibility to safeguard the public’s health is appalling — and should be grounds for his dismissal.
