RFK Jr. CDC shooting, Grill at Senate hearing via vaccine
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was burned at a Senate hearing over the recent CDC shooting and his vaccine guidance.
WASHINGTON – During an explosive hearing, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. refused to admit that more than 1 million Americans who died from the coronavirus are reluctant to give their Covid-19 vaccine credit in saving lives.
Kennedy’s skepticism about the role of vaccines was the focus of a fierce interaction with Senator D-Virginia, the role he played in slowing the pandemic. The country’s top health officials defended their tenure on September 4th before the Senate Finance Committee amid the turmoil of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I don’t know how many people have died,” Kennedy said when he asked him if he would accept that more than a million Americans had died in Covid, as is widely accepted in the health community. “There’s a lot of data chaos coming out of the CDC, so I don’t think anyone knows it.”
The senator then asked if he believed that the Covid vaccine had done anything to prevent it from dying from the virus.
“I’ll repeat, I’d like to look at the data and talk about it,” Kennedy responded.
He was once again pushed over questions from Senator Bernie Sanders of Kennedy and Senator Bernie Sanders of I-vermont.
As of August 23, more than 1.2 million Americans have died from Covid, according to the latest data published by the CDC. Many independent studies have found that millions of lives have been saved in the United States and millions around the world. More than 3.2 million American lives have been saved from the first two years of Covid vaccination, according to researchers in one study at the non-profit federal fund.
Warner answered Kennedy in a surprising tone. “The Secretary of Health and Human Services doesn’t know how many Americans have died in the community. He doesn’t know if the vaccine has helped prevent deaths.
Kennedy says he agrees that mRNA vaccines can cause death
Kennedy has denounced “dark” data from the Biden administration for lacking a clear answer about Covid, and accusing him of “dismissing all those who questioned Orthodox” under former President Joe Biden.
In another tense exchange with Colorado Sen. Michael Bennett, Kennedy said he agreed to a comment from Dr. Retsef Levi, one of his handpicked appointments to a vaccine advisory panel critical of mRNA vaccines. Bennett previously picked out Levi, saying that the mRNA vaccine “causing serious harm, including death, especially among young people.”
“I didn’t know he said it, but I agree,” Kennedy said.
Bennett fought back: “It’s not true. It wasn’t true when he said it. It wasn’t true when you said it.”
Messenger RNA vaccines, or mRNAs, are different from traditional ones. Instead of growing and weakening the virus, the body provides natural protection, mRNA vaccines use some of the genetic code to produce proteins that are part of the virus. This will allow the body to produce its own antibodies to the virus.
Pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer-Biontech have created a Covid-19 mRNA vaccine during the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican senators say he says he’s “deeply interested” in Kennedy
In a social media post on September 1, President Donald Trump called on drug companies to “justify success” in the fight against the Covid-19 virus, demanding an immediate release of data on the issue while the CDC is “torn apart by this question.”
In response to the 2020 pandemic, Trump has launched an operating speed during his first term, aimed at quickly developing a vaccine to stop the virus. But Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, has sparked the departure of top CDC officials over his vaccine views, including the ouster of CDC director Susan Monares, whom Trump fired after Kennedy resigned when he tried to fire her.
Sen. R-Louisiana, a doctor who criticized Kennedy’s actions, told the health secretary that Trump praised the speed of the war was “inconsistent.”
“When you try to limit access as a lawyer, you’re surprised that you appreciate the operational speed so very much,” Cassidy said. “We have cancelled our $500 million contract using an mRNA platform essential to speed of operation,” the senator added.
Sen. R-Wyoming, who is also a doctor, told Kennedy he is “deeply interested” in Kennedy’s leadership, referring to the national measles incident and the NIH leader who questioned the use of mRNA vaccines and the launch of Monares.
“Americans don’t know who to turn to,” Barrasso said.
Reach Joey Garrison with X @joeygarrison.
Contributors: Janet Loafke and George Petras
