Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed today that mRNA vaccines kill people during a tense Senate hearing. The most common Covid-19 jabs, such as those produced by Pfizer and Moderna, are mRNA vaccines.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) asked Kennedy, Donald Trump’s top health regulator, about his firing of every member of the Centers for Disease Control vaccine advisory committee, replacing them with his own picks.
“Are you aware that … one of these new members, Dr. [Retsef] Levy, wrote that ‘evidence is mounting and indisputable that mRNA vaccines cause serious harm, including death, especially among young people,’” Bennet said. “Yes or no, are you aware that he said that?”
“I wasn’t aware. I agree with it,” responded Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaxxer.
Levi is a professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former intelligence official for the Israeli military. He does not have a medical background, and there is a petition calling for his firing.
In January 2023, Levi posted on X that mRNA vaccines cause harm: “The evidence is mounting and indisputable that MRNA vaccines cause serious harm including death, especially among young people. We have to stop giving them immediately!”
Kennedy’s speech was raspy and labored throughout the Senate Finance Committee hearing, with viewers noting that heavy breathing, which almost sounded like snoring, could be heard over the microphone.
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RFK Jr. frequently sparred with Democratic senators, and he was also testy with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician who cast a key vote to confirm him to lead the Health and Human Services Department (HHS).
“You just told Sen. Bennet that the Covid vaccine killed more people than Covid,” Cassidy said.
“I did not say that,” Kennedy insisted.
Cassidy noted that patients are having trouble getting Covid vaccines, now that the Food and Drug Administration — which is part of HHS — has limited access to annual booster shots to people over the age of 65 or those with certain medical conditions.
“I would say, effectively, we’re denying people vaccines,” Cassidy said.
“You’re wrong,” Kennedy responded.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) asked if Kennedy accepted the statistic that a million Americans have died from Covid. The United States reached that mark in May 2022, according to data from John Hopkins University.
“I don’t know how many died,” Kennedy said, before attempting to blame the CDC. “It was so much data chaos coming out of the CDC.”
Warner seemed stunned. He asked Kennedy if he believes “the vaccine did anything to prevent additional deaths.”
“I would like to see the data and talk about the data,” Kennedy replied.
“The secretary of Health and Human Services doesn’t know how many Americans died from Covid, know if the vaccine helped prevent any deaths, and you are sitting as secretary of Health and Human Services?” Warner said, before pleading: “How can you be that ignorant?”
From Rolling Stone US
