“Meant to confuse”: Public health advocates slam RFK Jr.’s vaccine schedule changes
This story raises questions about governance, accountability, and American values.
The coverage treats RFK Jr. ’s schedule changes as a kind of public-health heresy, as if any departure from the current childhood list must be “meant to confuse. ” That framing assumes the schedule is purely scientific, above politics, and beyond review.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
Numerous vaccines were removed from the childhood immunization schedule in a historic move led by RFK Jr.
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
The coverage treats RFK Jr.’s schedule changes as a kind of public-health heresy, as if any departure from the current childhood list must be “meant to confuse.” That framing assumes the schedule is purely scientific, above politics, and beyond review. It rarely is.
Conservatives are less interested in panic than in process. If vaccines were removed, the public deserves to see the evidence, the risk tradeoffs, and the dissenting views, in plain language. Public trust is not maintained by scolding questions out of existence. It is maintained by transparent standards and consistent reasoning.
The real issue is institutional credibility. Families comply when they believe recommendations are made for children, not for bureaucratic convenience or industry comfort. A schedule that cannot be audited invites suspicion.
If the changes are right, prove it. If they are wrong, reverse them. Either way, rule of law and accountability matter more than protecting an untouchable consensus.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.