Redfield backs Kennedy's efforts on vaccines
Kennedy's nomination and eventual confirmation as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services was complicated by his decades-old vaccine skepticism. And he has alienated many public health officials who fear he could discourage the public from getting routine vaccinations long proven safe.
But Redfield is fully supporting Kennedy — even after Kennedy refused to say vaccines do not cause autism during his confirmation hearing — and is now calling for more vaccine research, too.
'I'm in clinical practice two half days a week right now, and largely doing Covid and long Covid, and I have a number of patients that have very serious long term consequences from the mRNA vaccines,' Redfield said during POLITICO's First 100 Days: Health Care event Wednesday. 'Let's get that systematically reviewed by the experts.'
Redfield supported Kennedy throughout his nomination and confirmation process, agreeing with Kennedy's points on a renewed effort to study and treat chronic disease and the impact of processed foods.
At the same time, Redfield spoke about his long-time commitment to promoting vaccine uptake, arguing that Kennedy's approach will eventually encourage vaccine confidence once HHS lets the public 'see the information.'
A wide variety of data on vaccine safety is already publicly available.
— Avian flu: Redfield also spoke in dire terms about the possibility of an avian flu pandemic.
'The Covid pandemic was a real challenge. There's no question about that. But to me, it was a minor epidemic compared to the epidemic that's coming — which is a bird flu pandemic,' Redfield said. 'So this is not a time to cut our ability to have a rapid public health response agency.'
But he doesn't think vaccines will be the solution, he said, because of the low efficacy of some flu vaccines. Instead, he said that the focus should instead be on developing effective antiviral drugs.
— CDC terminations: Redfield demurred when asked about the Trump administration's move last week to terminate thousands of HHS employees. Instead, he emphasized that the CDC needs to be reformed.
'I don't know what the ultimate consequences are going to be — whether it's going to be good or not good — but I do think, though, that we could all try to focus this time to transform our health system and our health agencies so that they're focused on health,' Redfield said, arguing that CDC has moved away from its 'primary mission' as a 'public health response agency,' and become too much like an academic institution.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
5 hours ago
- The Hill
White House officials defend Trump's firing of BLS chief
White House officials on Sunday defended President Trump's decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) following a weak jobs report, a move that has sparked broad criticism. 'The president wants his own people there so that when we see the numbers, they're more transparent and more reliable,' Kevin Hassett, chair of the National Economic Council, said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' Hassett said in another interview on 'Fox News Sunday' that the BLS commissioner has a responsibility to explain major revisions such as the one seen in Friday's jobs report, which showed 258,000 fewer jobs for prior months than initially reported. 'The big downward revision is something of a puzzle. I don't think it was explained very well. And I think that markets might be as much unsettled by the fact that the data are so noisy,' Hassett said. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, one of Trump's top tariff negotiators, said in an interview that aired on CBS's 'Face the Nation' Sunday that the president has 'real concerns' about the jobs numbers reported by the Labor Department. 'Even last year during the campaign, there were enormous swings in the jobs numbers, and so sounds to me like the president has real concerns. You know, not just based on today's, but everything we saw last year,' Greer said in the interview taped on Friday. 'You want to be able to have somewhat reliable numbers,' he added. 'There are always revisions, but sometimes you see these revisions go in really extreme ways. And it's, you know, the president is the president. He can choose who works in the executive branch.' Trump on Friday directed his team to fire BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer after the latest jobs report showed the country only adding 73,000 jobs in July, and major revisions for jobs added in May and June. The move prompted immediate outcry from Democrats and a handful of Republicans, with some calling for an investigation. McEntarfer was nominated by former President Biden and overwhelmingly confirmed by the GOP-led Senate early last year in an 86-8 vote. Trump's advisers underscored the president's concerns about revisions to the labor data while defending McEntarfer's firing. Hassett noted that jobs data reported by the government has seen major swings since the COVID-19 pandemic. 'What we've seen over the last few years is massive revisions to the jobs numbers. In fact, they were extremely reliable, the kind of numbers that you want to guide policy decisions and markets, through COVID. And then when COVID happened, because response rates went down a lot, then revision rates skyrocketed. So the typical monthly revision often was bigger than the number itself,' Hassett said on NBC. Trump, in axing the BLS chief, claimed without evidence that McEntarfer 'faked the Jobs Numbers' before the 2024 election in order to boost former Vice President Kamala Harris's White House bid, citing labor statistics revisions during the Biden administration that boosted job numbers ahead of the election. The president accused her of manipulating data to make him and Republicans look bad, writing on Truth Social on Friday, 'She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can't be manipulated for political purposes.' McEntarfer reacted to Trump's firing of her in a social media post over the weekend, saying it was the 'honor of my life' to serve in the role and hailing the 'vital and important work' carried out by civil servants at the agency.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Teenager and Toddler Contract Parasite Spread by Exposure to Raccoon Feces
The two unrelated children were hospitalized and treated for B. procyonis infectionsNEED TO KNOW Two California children contracted a rare parasite commonly spread by raccoon feces and occasionally by dogs The two unrelated kids — a teenager and a toddler — were hospitalized and treated for B. procyonis infections in 2024 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says people should "avoid contact with raccoons and their feces"Two children in California contracted a rare parasite that is commonly spread by raccoon feces and occasionally by dogs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) detailed two 2024 cases of a B. procyonis infection found in two unrelated children — a 14-year-old boy and a 15-month-old boy — in its latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published on Thursday, July 31. The infection, commonly referred to as raccoon roundworm infection, is caused by the Baylisascaris procyonis roundworm, which is often spread by exposure to raccoon feces and can also be transmitted to dogs in rare cases. According to the report, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) was notified last year of two patients with neurological signs and symptoms — such as behavioral change, lethargy and "gait instability" — consistent with the infection. Both cases were in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County, according to a LACDPH release from September 2024. According to the CDC, raccoons can "shed millions of roundworm eggs in their feces every day," which then become infective after a few weeks and can develop into larvae when consumed by "nondefinitive hosts." There have only been 35 cases in humans reported in the U.S., the health organization said. The teenage boy, who is autistic, had a history of ingesting non-food items and was initially hospitalized in May 2024 due to a series of "behavioral changes," according to the new information from the CDC. After "enhancing" lesions were detected in the boy's brain, doctors discovered and treated what the CDC called "a live parasitic nematode" in his eye. The teen was prescribed medication for a six-week period, before symptoms "subsequently resolved" and he returned to his "baseline neurologic status," according to the agency. The second patient, a toddler, was also hospitalized that June, before a brain MRI found "diffuse white matter abnormalities." Months later, doctors eventually discovered a "live parasitic nematode" in his eye — which, like the older boy, was treated with a laser. Both boys were also treated with a drug for paramedic worms, albendazole and the anti-inflammatory corticosteroids. While a source of the infection was not clear for the toddler, the CDC reported that a raccoon latrine — or an area where the animals defecate — was located on the rooftop of the teenager's home, "directly above the entrance to the premises, allowing feces to roll onto the landing below." The child was suspected to have consumed the feces or feces-contaminated soil. Due to the extent that raccoons visit the home, and unsuccessful efforts to move the animal's latrine, the family is planning on moving, the CDC said. "Given the severity of disease in humans, the high prevalence of B. procyonis infection in raccoons, and the proximity of raccoons to humans and pets, B. procyonis is a substantial public health concern," the CDC said. "To prevent infection, the public should avoid contact with raccoons and their feces, not keep raccoons as pets, ensure that children or persons with developmental disabilities do not place contaminated objects or fingers into their mouths, practice good hand hygiene after outdoor activities and safely remove raccoon latrines on properties, paying special attention to flat surfaces such as rooftops, decks, tree stumps, or unsealed attics and other areas where raccoons prefer to defecate," they continued. Since dogs can also be infected, the CDC encourages dog owners to prevent their pets from eating raccoon feces and said pets should be treated with a "year-round parasite prevention product." Read the original article on People
The Hill
9 hours ago
- The Hill
Kennedy targets vaccination injury program
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is targeting a little-known but crucial program that underpins all childhood vaccinations. Kennedy took to social media and the show of conservative activist Charlie Kirk this week to rail against the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and pledge significant changes. 'The VICP is broken, and I intend to fix it,' he wrote on social platform X. 'I will not allow the VICP to continue to ignore its mandate and fail its mission of quickly and fairly compensating vaccine-injured individuals.' Attorneys and other experts say Kennedy is right that the program, which was created in 1986 in order to give quick payouts to families who can prove a child was injured from a vaccine, is badly in need of modernization. 'There's a lot of low hanging fruit that [Kennedy] can act on that would immediately alter the course of the vaccine program for the better,' said David Carney, a vaccine injury attorney in Philadelphia and president of the Vaccine Injured Petitioners Bar Association. Cases could be settled quicker, rather than going through a trial, Carney said. Kennedy could also press Congress to act on legislation that would increase the court staff, increase the pain and suffering caps, and add COVID-19 vaccines to the list of shots eligible for the program. It has too few staff available to handle a massive caseload, leaving patients waiting for years just to have their cases heard. It covers almost three times as many vaccines as when it was first created, but the number of 'special masters' who hear cases has stayed the same. Attorneys who argue vaccine injuries said the government has been more favorable to vaccines than petitioners in recent years, fighting against claims that would have previously been easily settled. 'It's not the fast, informal, petitioner-friendly program that Congress designed. It is very adversarial and litigious. That's absolutely, 100% true,' said Renée Gentry, director of the Vaccine Injury Litigation Clinic at George Washington University Law School. But there's fear the changes Kennedy wants will undermine the program, or tear it down entirely, risking driving drugmakers from the market and threatening access to childhood shots. Kennedy has long targeted the VICP, and his X post echoed many of his previous arguments. He did not elaborate on what changes he is making but said he is working with Attorney General Pam Bondi. He has previously said he wants to expand the program, making it easier for claimants to qualify for awards based on adverse events he claims are associated with vaccines but are not currently part of the program. People can prove injuries two ways, said Dorit Reiss, a vaccine law expert and law professor at UC San Francisco. Either you fit into the table of injuries, and then there's a presumption that the vaccine caused the harm, or you have to show causation for an injury outside the list. Kennedy has the power to add new injuries to the eligible list, like autism, which he has repeatedly linked to vaccines. In an interview with Tucker Carlson earlier in July, Kennedy also suggested vaccines are linked to numerous chronic ailments like diabetes and narcolepsy. 'We have now this epidemic of immune dysregulation in our country, and there's no way to rule out vaccines as one of the key culprits,' Kennedy said. In order to add an injury to the list, Kennedy would have to go through the federal government's cumbersome notice-and-comment rulemaking process. Experts said it's usually a time consuming and expensive undertaking, and often the scientific reviews don't show enough evidence to prove if the vaccine caused harm or not. Kennedy could also unofficially start settling cases for more injuries without adding them to the list. Yet either change could risk bankrupting the program. Families are paid through a trust fund that's funded by an excise tax on vaccine makers, so there's a finite pot of money available. The program's fund covers lawyers' fees and the costs, even for losing cases. In exchange for the tax, vaccine makers have a limited liability shield. Petitioners file claims against the federal government, not the manufacturers, and families can get compensation without having to prove that drugmakers were negligent. Kennedy has suggested he wants to change that. 'The VICP has devolved into a morass of inefficiency, favoritism, and outright corruption as government lawyers and the Special Masters who serve as Vaccine Court judges prioritize the solvency of the HHS Trust Fund, over their duty to compensate victims,' Kennedy wrote. An HHS spokesman declined to say what, if any changes Kennedy is considering, saying the secretary's comments speak for itself. A popular anti-vaccine talking point is the desire to eliminate the vaccine makers' limited liability shield. But that's only something Congress can do. Kennedy does have the power to drop vaccines from the program. Right now, it covers 16 routinely recommended immunizations for children or pregnant women. But if a shot is no longer routinely recommended, it can be removed. In early June, Kennedy abruptly fired all members of the outside advisory group responsible for making vaccine recommendations. He appointed a new group of hand-picked replacements. If that group no longer recommends the HPV vaccine, for instance, Kennedy can revise the injury table to remove it. 'If he takes it away, then those people have no right to be in this program, and they're going to have to be stuck with civil litigation,' said Gentry, which is much more difficult and expensive.
