Larson Condemns Latest RFK Jr. Push to Roll Back Childhood Vaccine Recommendations

East Hartford, CT - Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) released the following statement after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine panel reversed decades-long guidancefor newborns to receive Hepatitis B vaccinations.

"Once again, Secretary Kennedy is putting his anti-vaccine conspiracies above the health of our nation's children," said Larson. "This latest move by his panel of conspiracy theorists, yet again has no basis in facts or evidence, and will only further imperil the progress we've made against preventable diseases -in this case, Hepatitis B. Vaccinations are backed by decades of extensive scientific research. If the CDC moves forward with this baseless recommendation, children will die. The longer RFK Jr. stays in his role as our nation's top health official, the more harm he and his pseudoscientific conspiracies will cause."

Larson called for Kennedy to resignin September after he doubled down on his anti-vaccine purgeduring a Senate hearing. Since he was sworn in, Kennedy has dismissed all 17 membersof the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) that recommends vaccines, canceled $500 million in fundingfor vaccine research, and announced new restrictions on the COVID-19 vaccine. Bolstered by the Secretary's anti-vaccine rhetoric, Florida has put forward a plan to end all childhood vaccine requirements.

Connecticut leads the nation with a 98.3% childhood vaccination rate, avoiding measles outbreaks plaguing other states. Connecticut has seen no measles or polio cases, a public health success under threat by the ongoing Trump-Kennedy public health purge.