“The measles gave you lifetime protection against measles infection,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, displaying a basic misunderstanding of infectious diseases.
More than 220 people in Texas have been diagnosed with the infectious virus, and California, New York, and Maryland have also reported cases. The CDC has issued warnings for healthcare workers and travelers to “be vigilant.”
The Secretary of Health and Human Services sat down with Sean Hannity to talk about the measles outbreak that has already killed a child. This preventable death was the first measles death in over a decade.
During the interview, RFK Jr. refused to endorse vaccines for skeptics. The measles vaccine is 97% effective and is one of the most reliable vaccines available. But RFK Jr. thinks that getting the disease is the better option for...well not prevention.
“It used to be, when I was a kid, that everybody got measles. And the measles gave you lifetime protection against measles infection,” he said, then taking a swipe at the vaccine. “The vaccine doesn’t do that. The vaccine is effective for some people for life, but for many people, it wanes.”
Kennedy’s main point was that the “government shouldn’t force” people to get the vaccine. He outwardly railed against the MMR vaccine, telling Hannity that it causes “adverse effects.”
“There are adverse events from the vaccine. It does cause deaths every year. It causes all the illnesses that measles itself causes, like encephalitis and blindness, etc., so people ought to be able to make that choice for themselves,” he said, while adding that the vaccine does “stop the spread of the disease.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that any side effects from the MMR vaccine are usually “mild” and “go away on their own.”
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