Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s only stated position on vaccines that they should be studied "like any other pharmaceutical product" as a social media post claims? No, that's not true: In 2023, Kennedy said, "There's no vaccine that is ... safe and effective," and he has a long history of questioning vaccine safety and suggesting links between vaccines, autism and other health problems. Scientists and health experts have debunked these notions; vaccines go through a long testing process before they can gain approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X on December 8, 2024. The post said:
RFK is saying one thing and one thing only about vaccines: that they should be studied like any other pharmaceutical product.
The fact that it is the position of the media that these drugs should never be studied is dangerous and batshit crazy.
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Wed Dec 11 17:33:52 2024 UTC)
The post didn't provide any proof to support its assertion that Kennedy's only stated position is that vaccines should be "studied like any other" drug. The truth is that Kennedy has been outspoken in his views on vaccines.
Kennedy is the founder of Children's Health Defense, an organization known for its anti-vaccine or vaccine-hesitant stance. His vaccine skepticism is well known.
Kennedy: Vaccines not safe
On the Lex Fridman podcast, which was published on YouTube on July 6, 2023, Kennedy had this exchange with the host about where he stands on vaccines (at the 1:55:38 mark):
Fridman: You've talked about that the media slanders you by calling you an anti-vaxxer, and you've said that you're not anti-vaccine; you're pro-safe vaccine. Difficult question: Can you name any vaccines that you think are good?
Kennedy: I think some of the live virus vaccines are probably averting more problems than they're causing. There's no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective.
The video is embedded below:
Nearly two years earlier, on September 3, 2021, Kennedy made a similar statement on Alec Zeck's "The Way Forward" podcast (archived here). He said:
We -- our job is to resist and to talk about it to everybody. If you're walking down the street -- and I do this now myself, which is, you know, I don't want to do -- I'm not a busybody. I see somebody on a hiking trail with a, carrying a little baby and I say to him, 'Better not get him vaccinated.' And he heard that from me. If he hears it from 10 other people, maybe he won't do it, you know, maybe he will save that child.
A few months later, CNN aired the clip from the podcast during an interview (archived here) with Kennedy on his third-party candidacy, which was published to YouTube on December 15, 2023. Here's a screenshot of the statement:
(Source: YouTube screenshot taken on Wed Dec 11 22:08:03 2024 UTC)
The statement is embedded below:
Autism
Also among Kennedy's views on vaccines is the debunked notion that they cause autism. In a July 10, 2023, interview (archived here) on Fox News, he said (at the 1:20 mark):
I do believe that autism does come from vaccines.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (archived here) says there's no link between the two things:
Scientific studies and reviews continue to show no relationship between vaccines and autism.
The CDC website (archived here) has more information on "Autism and Vaccines."
Childhood vaccines
And at a March 5, 2023, event at Hillsdale College (archived here), Kennedy charged that "not one of the 72 vaccines mandated for children has ever been safety tested." An X post and video (archived here) include the same section of Kennedy's account where he makes the claim. The video portion of that post can be found below:
Anthony Fauci called RFK Jr. a liar for stating that not one of the 72 vaccines mandated for children has ever been safety tested*.
-- Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) November 27, 2024
In response, RFK Jr. took legal action, and after a year of delays, Fauci's lawyers conceded that RFK Jr. had been correct.
"There's no... pic.twitter.com/43EA4QTRa7
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Vaccines in the United States and around the world go through rigorous testing before gaining widespread use. The CDC website spells out what it takes to get a vaccine approved (archived here).
Vaccine testing is a long process that starts in the lab, where researchers spend years studying a vaccine's ability to protect against a disease. They also test it in small animals to check for immune responses and safety. If results are promising, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows testing in humans through clinical trials.
Clinical trials are conducted in three phases:
- Phase 1: Involves 20-100 volunteers to test safety, immune response, potential side effects and dosage.
- Phase 2: Involves hundreds of volunteers to study common short-term side effects and immune response.
- Phase 3: Involves thousands of volunteers to test vaccine safety, effectiveness and less common side effects.
If the vaccine is successful in all phases, the FDA reviews the data and approves it if it's safe, effective and meets all regulations.
Food and Drug Administration
The FDA is the agency responsible for making sure vaccines used in the United States are safe, effective and high-quality. An FDA spokesperson shared this response with Lead Stories in a December 6, 2024, email for a different story about vaccine safety:
All vaccines for children and adults that are licensed in the United States are supported by well-controlled clinical trials that have established their safety and effectiveness, and the FDA continues to monitor their safety using different surveillance systems after they are marketed. In addition, the FDA helps to ensure that vaccines are produced with high quality in inspected facilities that meet rigorous standards.
All U.S. FDA-approved and authorized vaccines have undergone the FDA's thorough review process and have met the agency's rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness, and quality. It should be noted that vaccines are one of the most highly effective public health interventions, responsible for saving millions of lives each year.
The FDA's "Vaccine Development - 101" page (archived here) says the following about the process:
Vaccines to prevent infectious diseases are given to millions of babies, children, adolescents and adults and it is critical that they are demonstrated to be safe and effective. Vaccines have prevented countless cases of disease and disability and have saved millions of lives. Ensuring the safety and effectiveness of vaccines is one of FDA's top priorities.
FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) ensures that FDA's rigorous scientific and regulatory processes are followed by those who pursue the development of vaccines. Vaccine development is a complex science. FDA's scientific and regulatory advice to vaccine developers, as well as FDA's evaluation to determine the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, are among the most robust in the world.
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At the time this was written, FactCheck.org had reviewed the same claim.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks of claims about vaccines can be found here.
Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims involving Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can be found here.
