Could RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Committee Overturn Hepatitis B Vaccine?
Health Department Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Vaccine Advisory Committee will discuss and potentially postpone the critical immunization that protects infants from hepatitis B.
Secretary of State Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Heath on December 15 promised to refocus “diagnostic efforts” on tick-borne Lyme disease, arguing that it is an “invisible” disease that previous White House administrations have ignored.
President Kennedy made this comment while convening a roundtable of patients and health care providers.
Exactly one year ago, before being confirmed as secretary of health in February, Kennedy promoted the conspiracy theory that Lyme disease was a military-created biological weapon. In 2024, President Kennedy said on a podcast that it was “likely” Lyme disease developed at a military research lab on Long Island, New York.
“We can’t be 100% sure, but we know they were experimenting with ticks there,” he said.
During his confirmation hearing in January, he was asked by Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado about comments that it was a “biological weapon.”
President Kennedy replied, “I may have said that.”
His conspiracy theories, which claim vaccines cause autism, link antidepressants to school shootings, and even suggest that Wi-Fi causes cancer, have alarmed medical experts and Democratic lawmakers.
At Monday’s roundtable, President Kennedy claimed, without evidence, that officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had claimed Lyme disease “doesn’t exist.”
For many years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published a webpage dedicated to Lyme disease, detailing its symptoms and treatment. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded numerous projects to study the disease, including five in 2023. This study aims to improve our understanding of Lyme disease syndrome after treatment.
The CDC does not say that Lyme disease does not exist, but it does say that it “discourages the use of the term ‘chronic Lyme disease’ because it implies that long-term symptoms are caused by an ongoing bacterial infection.” That’s not it.
Instead, the CDC uses the term “post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome” for patients who experience “lingering symptoms,” but this practice is controversial.
“Lyme disease is an example of a chronic disease that has been ignored for too long because patients receive inadequate care,” he said, adding, “I want to announce to the world that the gaslighting of people with Lyme disease is over.”
Kennedy said one of his sons suffered from facial paralysis for nearly a year due to Lyme disease.
“You can imagine the heartache it caused the parents,” he said. “This is an invisible disease. For many years, this agency has had a deliberate policy of refusing to engage with the Lyme disease community. And some government officials have maintained that Lyme disease does not exist.”
Kennedy claimed that his patients’ concerns were ignored and some of his patients were sent to psychiatrists.
“I can’t think of a worse combination,” he says. “These people are really sick, and we’re being told to find psychiatric problems that explain their symptoms.”
Lyme disease is caused by bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi It is transmitted to humans through the bite of a deer tick. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it most commonly occurs in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Upper Midwest regions.
Common symptoms include fever, headache, and skin rash. If left untreated, Lyme disease can cause facial paralysis, irregular heartbeats and arthritis, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most cases of Lyme disease can be successfully treated with a few weeks of antibiotics.
“I lived in Bedford, New York, in the epicenter of Lyme disease, for 35 years,” Kennedy said. “Everyone in my family has Lyme disease.”
One health care provider at the roundtable said they are working on a rapid test for tick-borne diseases that can be completed in 20 minutes. She said she hopes it will be available for purchase at Walgreens.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, whose state has one of the highest numbers of people diagnosed with Lyme disease, was among those who attended the roundtable.
“Early and accurate diagnosis can reduce costs and improve prognosis,” she said. “But the problem is that there are still very few effective diagnostics on the market.”
Collins added that LymeX (Lyme Innovation Accelerator), a public-private partnership created in 2020 between HHS and the Stephen and Alexandra Cohen Foundation focused on better diagnostics, is critical.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharyya, director of the National Institutes of Health, said the agency is conducting “ongoing clinical studies using post-treatment neuroimaging and blood markers to assess the mechanisms of neurological symptoms associated with Lyme disease.”
He said the Lyme disease framework would be launched in early 2026.
“The idea that Lyme disease is incurable and that patients are just making it up is long gone,” Bhattacharyya says. “We are committed to making sure you follow the golden rule signs to address your symptoms.”
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is USA TODAY’s White House correspondent. You can follow her at X @SwapnaVenugopal.
