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While Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘s Senate confirmation to head the Department of Health and Human Services was not unexpected, it still shook medical providers, public health experts and parents across the country. 

Mary Koslap-Petraco, a pediatric nurse practitioner who exclusively treats underserved children, said when she heard the news Thursday morning she was immediately filled with 鈥渁bsolute dread.鈥�

鈥淚 have been following him for years,鈥� she told 社区黑料. 鈥淚鈥檝e read what he has written. I鈥檝e heard what he has said. I know he has made a fortune with his anti-vax stance.鈥�

She is primarily concerned that his rhetoric might 鈥渟care the daylights out of people so that they don鈥檛 want to vaccinate their children.鈥� She also fears he could move to defund a program under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that provides vaccines to kids who lack health insurance or otherwise wouldn鈥檛 be able to afford them. While the program is federally mandated by Congress, moves to drain its funding could essentially render it useless.

Koslap-Petraco鈥檚 practice in Massapequa Park, New York relies heavily on the program to vaccinate pediatric patients, she said. If it were to disappear, she asked, 鈥淗ow am I supposed to take care of poor children? Are they supposed to just die or get sick because their parents don’t have the funds to get the vaccines for them?鈥� 

And, if the government-run program were to stop paying for vaccines, she said she鈥檚 terrified private insurance companies might follow suit. 

Vaccines for Children is 鈥渢he backbone of pediatric vaccine infrastructure in the country,鈥� said Richard Hughes IV, former vice president of public policy at Moderna and a George Washington University law professor who teaches a course on vaccine law.

Kennedy will also have immense power over Medicaid, which covers low-income populations and provides billions of dollars to schools annually for physical, mental and behavioral health services for eligible students.

If Kennedy moves to weaken programs at HHS, which experts expect him to do, through across-the-board cuts in public health funding that trickle down to immunization programs or more targeted attacks, low-income and minority school-aged kids will be disproportionately impacted, Hughes said. 

鈥淚 just absolutely, fundamentally, confidently believe that we will see deaths,鈥� he added.

Anticipating chaos and instability

Following a contentious seven hours of grilling across two confirmation hearings, Democratic senators Kennedy鈥檚 confirmation on the floor late into the night Wednesday. The following morning, all 45 Democrats and both Independents voted in opposition and all but one Republican 鈥� childhood polio survivor Mitch McConnell of Kentucky 鈥� lined up behind President Donald Trump鈥檚 pick.

James Hodge, a public health law expert at Arizona State University鈥檚 Sandra Day O鈥機onnor College of Law, said that while it was good to see senators across the political spectrum asking tough questions and Kennedy offering up some concessions on vaccine-related policies and initiatives, he鈥檚 skeptical these will stick.

鈥淲hatever you’ve seen him do for the last 25 to 30 years is a much, much greater predictor than what you saw him do during two or three days of Senate confirmation proceedings,鈥� Hodge said. 鈥淓rgo, be concerned significantly about the future of vaccines, vaccine exemptions, [and] how we鈥檙e going to fund these things.鈥�

Hodge also said he doesn鈥檛 trust how Kennedy will respond to the consequences of a dropoff in childhood vaccines, pointing to the current in West Texas schools.

鈥淭he simple reality is he may plant misinformation or mis-messaging,鈥� he said.

During his confirmation hearings, Kennedy tried to distance himself from his past anti-vaccination sentiments stating, 鈥淣ews reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither. I am pro-safety 鈥� I believe that vaccines played a critical role in health care. All of my kids are vaccinated.鈥�

He was confirmed as Linda McMahon, Trump鈥檚 nominee to head the Department of Education, was sitting down for her first day of hearings. At one point that morning, McMahon signaled to possibly shifting enforcement to HHS of the 鈥� a federal law dating back to 1975 that mandates a free, appropriate public education for the with disabilities 鈥� if Trump were to succeed in shutting down the education department.

This would effectively put IDEA鈥檚 under Kennedy鈥檚 purview, further linking the education and public health care systems.

In a post on the social media site BlueSky, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, she is 鈥渃oncerned that anyone is willing to move IDEA services for kids with disabilities into HHS, under a secretary who questions science.鈥�

Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union and a parent of a child with ADHD and autism, told 社区黑料 the idea was 鈥渁bsolutely absurd鈥� and would cause chaos and instability. 

Kennedy鈥檚 history of falsely asserting a link between childhood vaccines and autism 鈥� a disability included under IDEA coverage 鈥� is particularly concerning to experts in this light.

鈥淵ou obviously have a contingent of kids who are beneficiaries of IDEA that are navigating autism spectrum disorder,鈥� said Hughes, 鈥淐ould [we] potentially see some sort of policy activity and rhetoric around that? Potentially.鈥�

Vaccines 鈥� and therefore HHS 鈥� are inextricably linked to schools. Currently, all 50 states have vaccine requirements for children entering child care and schools. But Kennedy, who now has control of an agency with a $1.7 trillion budget and 90,000 employees spread across 13 agencies, could pull multiple levers to roll back requirements, enforcements and funding, according to 社区黑料鈥檚 previous reporting. And Trump has signaled an interest in that mandate vaccines.

鈥淭here’s a certain percentage of the population that is focused on removing school entry requirements,鈥� said Northe Saunders, executive director of the pro-vaccine SAFE Communities Coalition. 鈥淭hey are loud, and they are organized and they are well funded by groups just like RFK Jr.鈥檚 .鈥�

Kennedy will also have the ability to influence the makeup of the committees that approve vaccines and add them to the federal vaccine schedule, which state legislators rely on to determine their school policies. Hodge said one of these committees is already being 鈥渞e-organized and re-thought as we speak.鈥�

鈥淲ith him now in place, just expect that committee to start really changing its members, its tone, the demeanor, the forcefulness of which it’s suggesting vaccines,鈥� he added.

Hughes, the law professor, said he is preparing for mass staffing changes throughout the agency, mirroring what鈥檚 already happened across in Trump鈥檚 first weeks in office. He predicts this will include Kennedy possibly asking for the resignations 鈥渙f all scientific leaders with HHS.鈥� 

Kennedy appeared to confirm that he was eyeing staffing cuts Thursday night during on Fox News鈥檚 鈥淭he Ingraham Angle.鈥�

鈥淚 have a list in my head 鈥� if you鈥檝e been involved in good science, you have got nothing to worry about,鈥� Kennedy said.

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