Vaccine Skepticism

Dr. Peter Marks, the top vaccine official at the Food and Drug Administration, wrote in a letter on Friday that he was resigning from his position and criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has questioned the effectiveness of vaccines for years and promoted debunked claims that certain vaccines are linked to autism.

A large study into the potential connections between vaccines and autism is reportedly being planned by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to reports Friday.

It's not clear if Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is involved in the study or how the plans would be implemented.

The CDC and Kennedy's department have not commented about the reporting, released by Reuters, which quoted two sources said to be familiar with the matter.

President Donald Trump, in his address to Congress Tuesday...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is moving forward with a study examining potential connections between vaccines and autism, according to multiple reports.

Newsweek reached out to the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services for comment on Friday.

The announcement has raised questions, given the extensive scientific research that has consistently found no link between vaccines and autism. Yet, despite overwhelming evidence debunking the claim, skepticism persists, fueled in part by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr...

Decades of scientific evidence haven’t found a link between autism and vaccines, but that doesn’t appear to stop the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from reportedly planning to study the issue.

The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) upcoming Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting on March 13 was abruptly canceled via email on Wednesday. The committee was to consider the selection of strains to be included in the influenza virus vaccines for the 2025–2026 flu season. This is the second vaccine-related advisory meeting canceled since Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. took over at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The first measles death has been reported in West Texas amid the outbreak that has infected more than 100 people, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday morning.

Melissa Whitfield, a spokesperson for Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, confirmed the death to AP. 

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday appeared to downplay the seriousness of the West Texas measles outbreak that has killed a school-age child.

The child’s death, the first from the disease in a decade in the United States, was confirmed by Katherine Wells, director of public health at the health department in Lubbock, Texas. The child had not been vaccinated against the measles.

Adult vaccination rates in Nevada are below the national average, and at least one analysis ranks the state last in the country for vaccination rates among adults and the elderly. AllSides highlights content from Gigafact, a network of newsrooms that respond to online claims. View the full fact brief on The Nevada Independent.

Nationwide, the rate of kindergartners with complete records for the measles vaccine declined from around 95 percent before the pandemic to under 93 percent last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Immunization rates against polio, whooping cough and chickenpox fell similarly.

Average rates remain high, but those national figures mask far more precipitous drops in some states, counties and school districts.

Vaccination rates against childhood diseases have been on a downward slide for the past few years in the United States. Nationally, for example, the share of kindergarteners with completed records for the measles vaccine dropped to 93 percent last year, down from 95 percent in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Polio, whooping cough, and chickenpox vaccination rates have likewise slumped since the pandemic.