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In a notable shift from her predecessors, President Trump’s pick for surgeon general, Casey Means, announced on Wednesday that she would not universally advocate for children’s vaccinations against measles, the flu, or whooping cough.
During her testimony before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Means faced pointed inquiries about the vaccine requirements for school-aged children. This session marked a pivotal moment in her confirmation process.
Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) adjusted their recommendations for childhood immunizations under the direction of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., removing the standard suggestion for all children to receive flu vaccines.
Confronted with a question about endorsing the measles vaccine, Means stated, “I believe vaccines save lives. I believe that vaccines are a key part of any infectious disease public health strategy.”
Despite this affirmation of vaccines’ importance, she refrained from explicitly recommending the measles vaccine.
HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) sought to clarify her answer, asking Means if she would encourage mothers to vaccinate their children with the MMR vaccine, citing the high number of deaths tied to a measles outbreak in the South last year.
“I’m supportive of vaccination. I do believe that each patient, mother, parent needs to have a conversation with their pediatrician about any medication they’re putting in their body and their children’s bodies,” Means said.
Cassidy responded, “You’re the nation’s doctor. Would you encourage her to have her child vaccinated?”
“I’m not an individual’s doctor and every individual needs to talk to their doctor before putting a medication in their body,” Means replied. “I absolutely am supportive of the measles vaccine. And I do believe vaccines save lives and are an important part of the public health strategy.”
Means gave similar responses to whether she’d support vaccines for the flu and whooping cough.
The stance bucking years of tradition isn’t new for Trump’s surgeon general nominee, who wrote a book in which one chapter was entitled, “Trust Yourself, Not Your Doctor.”
She also refused to deny unfounded links between autism and vaccines, telling lawmakers, “science is never settled.”
“And I think that the effort to look at comprehensive cumulative exposures of our exosome into what is causing autism is important,” she added.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who serves as the ranking member on the HELP committee, pressed her on the topic, telling Means, “you have scientific evidence, the overwhelming body of scientific evidence says vaccines do not cause autism.”
The surgeon general pick reiterated that she was not trying to “complicate” vaccine usage.
“So just to be very clear, vaccines, vaccine advocacy has never, or any anti-vaccine rhetoric has never been a part of my message. I don’t mention the word vaccine in my book. This is not a part of my core message. I am not here to complicate the issue on vaccines,” she told Sanders.
“And also I, as a physician, am very careful with my words,” she added. “And I don’t think it’s responsible to say that we’re not going to study when kids are getting many medications. I think it’s important to just keep it on the table.”
Vaccine skepticism has been a rampant focus for Kennedy. Last year, the HHS chief removed every member of an independent panel advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines and replaced them with members of his choosing.
Months after the move, the group voted 8-3 to no longer recommend all newborns receive a birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, now only recommending this early shot for infants born to mothers who test positive for the virus. For infants born to mothers who test negative for hepatitis B, “it is suggested” that the first dose not be administered until two months of age, according to the panel’s recommendation.
At the start of Means’s confirmation hearing, Cassidy reminded the surgeon general nominee of the importance of her role.
“The Surgeon General needs to be an effective and truthful communicator, a calming voice of reason, a steady hand of experience at a time when so many, for whatever reason, sow distrust and confusion,” Cassidy said in his opening remarks.
‘The Surgeon General must be someone who could execute on President Trump’s commitment to restoring confidence in public health and to assure the American people that our institutions are making science-based decisions rooted in data that puts families’ health first. This is especially important as HHS undergoes substantial personnel and policy changes,” he added.
Cassidy continued, “Dr. Means, it should be your mission and the mission of every HHS official to restore stability and assure Americans that protecting health is a top priority.”