Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long track record of environmental activism — and of spreading misinformation about vaccines.
Kennedy has spent his life cleaning up and fighting water pollution, and that's something his niece and two of his siblings are very proud of. Yet when it comes to his incorrect belief that vaccines lead to autism, he is "tragically wrong," Joseph Kennedy II, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, and Maeve Kennedy McKean write in a new Politico op-ed.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In the op-ed, the Kennedys do concede that it's "understandable" to question vaccines, but unequivocally declare they "far outweigh any potential side effects." After all, "immunizations prevent some 2 million to 3 million deaths a year," and could save 1.5 million more "with broader vaccine coverage," they write, citing the World Health Organization.
Joe Kennedy was once a congressmember from Massachusetts, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is the former lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. Both are Kennedy's siblings. Maeve Kennedy McKean is Kennedy's niece and is the executive director of Georgetown University's Global Health Initiatives. Read their whole op-ed at Politico.
-
Eel-egal trade: the world’s most lucrative wildlife crime?Under the Radar Trafficking of juvenile ‘glass’ eels from Europe to Asia generates up to €3bn a year but the species is on the brink of extinction
-
Political cartoons for November 2Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the 22nd amendment, homeless camps, and more
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
