Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services to “Make America Healthy Again”—petitions the government to halt all use in the region Covid-19 vaccine. Pandemic. Kennedy petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May 2021, asking the agency to revoke its authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine. this new york times reported on Friday.

Kennedy has long spread vaccine conspiracy theories and spoken out against precautionary measures during the pandemic. In 2022, at a rally organized by his organization Children's Health Defense, he compared the measures surrounding the pandemic to those during the Holocaust. "Even in Hitler's Germany, you could cross the Alps to Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank," he said. He later apologized.

The petition to stop COVID-19 vaccinations was filed on behalf of Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccination nonprofit founded by Kennedy. The group has also filed two dozen lawsuits related to vaccines and public health. In November, the Supreme Court rejected the group's attempt to protect Washington state doctors who were under investigation for spreading misinformation about the coronavirus.

“Acting on this citizen petition will increase the FDA’s credibility with the public,” Kennedy and then-physician Meryl Nurse wrote in their petition for a COVID-19 vaccine. In 2023, the Maine Regulatory Commission revoked Nurse's license and fined her $10,000 for treating three patients diagnosed with COVID-19. She allegedly improperly prescribed the antiparasitic drugs ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to these patients.

The petition also falsely claims that ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine are treatments for COVID-19 — a claim that has been discredited.

In August, the FDA denied the petition. “The FDA has a rigorous regulatory process for vaccine licensing,” the group wrote in its denial. Experts estimate that COVID-19 vaccines have prevented as many as 140,000 deaths in the United States

Kennedy told NBC News in November that he would not ban vaccines in the Trump administration. “If the vaccines work for someone, I’m not going to take them away,” he said. "People should have a choice, and that choice should be based on the best information available... So I'm going to make sure there are scientific safety studies and efficacy and people can individually evaluate whether the product is going to be good for them. "

Trump defended Kennedy last month. "I don't think he's going to be as radical as you think," he said.

But that doesn't allay people's concerns. Experts are now worried about how he will respond to an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu. Kennedy posted on X last June that there was "no evidence" that bird flu vaccines were effective. Last week, more than 17,000 doctors signed a letter urging senators to reject his nomination to lead HHS.