US health officials appear to be shying away from voicing negative views of vaccines in public as November’s midterm elections loom and key polling indicates anti-vaccine views are a liability. But even before a federal judge essentially invalidated these moves, officials haven’t championed their dramatic changes after Donald Trump’s pollsters recommended veering away from anti-vaccine ideology ahead of the midterms. The elections seem top-of-mind for US health officials. “It seems like somebody has advised him to stop doing anti-vaccine stuff.”But Kennedy did make quiet references to his long-held anti-vaccine ideologies. Brian Hooker, chief scientific officer at Children’s Health Defense, the organization led by Kennedy until recently, told NPR that anti-vaccine ideology is “in the forefront” and “on the agenda” for US health officials.

Source: The Guardian April 05, 2026 16:22 UTC