Robert F. Kennedy Jr. allegedly attempted to stop the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine six months after it began. 

RFK Jr., the son of a former United States Attorney General and the nominee chosen by Donald Trump for Secretary of Health and Human Services, has faced criticism due to his stance on vaccines.

He has insisted that he is not necessarily anti-vaccine and does support the jab for the polio virus. 

Further investigation into Kennedy’s background revealed a petition he submitted to the Food and Drug Administration urging them to cease the authorization of current vaccines and to refrain from approving any new ones.

In May 2021, when he filed the petition, the New York Times reports that estimates say the jab saved about 140,000 lives. 

Kennedy, whose nonprofit organization Children’s Health Defense initiated the petition, argued that the risks associated with vaccines outweighed their benefits. He advocated for alternative treatments such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, which he believed were viable options.

Trials have shown that ivermectin does nothing to prevent COVID patients from getting ill, while over 100 Americans died of the virus despite taking hydroxychloroquine in 2020 alone. 

Dr. Robert Califf, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, called the petition a ‘massive error.’ 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. allegedly attempted to stop the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine six months after it began

The son of the former United States Attorney General and Donald Trump ‘s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services has faced backlash over his views on vaccines in general

Several other members of the public health establishment agreed and the FDA rejected his request within months. 

Kennedy – whose confirmation hearings have yet to be scheduled – has not responded to requests for comment.   

In November, he appeared to pivot on the COVID jab, telling NBC: ‘I wouldn’t have directly blocked it. I would have made sure that we had the best science, and there was no effort to do that at that time.’ 

Trump has had a complicated relationship with the program to administer the jabs, ‘Operation Warpspeed,’ which he has tried to take credit for amid reticence from some of his base.

In 2021, he claimed the world could have seen 100 million deaths from COVID-19 if his administration hadn’t developed the vaccine. 

However, he has hired Kennedy to run the nation’s health which suggests a pivot from his former brags about the vaccine. 

Trump appears to be backing Kennedy and said last month: ‘I think he’s going to be much less radical than you would think. I think he’s got a very open mind, or I wouldn’t have put him there.’

But a recent story about Kennedy’s top advisor, Aaron Siri, pushing to revoke the polio vaccine’s approval appears to now be imperiling his nomination among Republicans.

Trump appears to be backing Kennedy and said last month: ‘I think he’s going to be much less radical than you would think. I think he’s got a very open mind, or I wouldn’t have put him there’

Following a New York Times story highlighting Siri’s efforts and Kennedy’s past remarks on vaccines – many of them not positive – longtime Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor, released a statement ridiculing anyone attempting to degrade the treatment.

Now the HHS nominee is making sure people know where he stands. 

‘I’m all for the polio vaccine,’ the 70-year-old said when arriving at the Capitol complex for meetings with senators on Monday. 

It was his first time appearing on the hill since being nominated by Trump, and other than his vaccine remark, Kennedy did not say anything else or take any further questions.

Last week following the story about Siri, the 82-year-old McConnell used his personal experience to tear into Trump’s preferred health secretary.

‘Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed – they’re dangerous,’ McConnell said of the bid from Kennedy’s advisor, while not singling out Kennedy by name.

‘Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.’

‘The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and held out the promise of eradicating a terrible disease,’ McConnell wrote. 

Robert Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services, arrives at the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 16, 2024.

As a toddler in 1944, McConnell’s upper left leg was paralyzed by the disease. However, treatment available at the time likely saved him from being disabled for the rest of his life.

About a decade later, the first successful vaccine was developed by U.S. physician Jonas Salk. The disease is now commonly considered extinct in the U.S. because of the vaccine.

‘Mr. Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied,’ a Kennedy spokesperson said in response to McConnell.

Kennedy has drawn connections between vaccines and rising rates of autism, something Trump himself mentioned at a press conference on Monday, seemingly defending his nominee’s stance on the matter. 

‘If you look at autism, so 30 years ago we had I heard numbers like 1 in 200,000, 1 in 100,000. Now I’m hearing numbers like 1 in 100. So something’s wrong,’ Trump said. 

While health professionals say there is not a clear line between the two, autism cases have been ticking up dramatically in recent years. Tough the uptick in cases, some medical professionals say, should be attributed to clearer diagnosing criteria.

One in 36 or so U.S. children is diagnosed with autism today, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

However, in 2000 that number was closer to one in 150, CDC data shows. 

‘There’s something wrong,’ Trump continued. ‘And we’re going to find out about it.’