ICE Traps Congressional Democrats Trying to Visit Detention Center

MRNA vaccines have been around for decades but were relatively new to the United States when the coronavirus began to spread. Their use allowed scientists, pharmaceutical companies, and the medical industry to rapidly respond to the virus, shortening the timeline to reach national herd immunity. The technology was heralded as a medical marvel and went on to win the 2023 Nobel Prize in medicine, with abilities that extend far beyond the infectious disease realm: In the years since it debuted on the U.S. market, biomedical researchers have framed mRNA as a potential cancer treatment. But its sudden emergence in the U.S. prompted suspicion from anti-vaxxers, including Kennedy.

Since Kennedy took the reins at HHS, he has removed independent medical experts on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel and replaced them with vaccine skeptics. He warned against the use of the MMR vaccine during Texas’s historic measles outbreak, recommending that suffering patients instead take vitamins. And he founded his new directive for America’s health policy—the “Make America Healthy Again” report—on studies generated by AI that never existed in the real world.

Should it need repeating: Vaccines have proven to be one of the greatest accomplishments of modern medicine. They are so effective they have practically eradicated some of the worst diseases, from rabies to polio and smallpox, a fact that has possibly fooled some into believing that the viruses and their complications aren’t a significant threat for the average, health-conscious individual.