Trump nominees ought to ‘steer clear’ of undermining polio vaccine, McConnell says | EUROtoday

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Senate Republican chief Mitch McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, stated any of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees searching for affirmation ought to “steer clear” of efforts to discredit the polio vaccine.

“Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed — they’re dangerous,” McConnell stated in a Friday assertion. “Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.”

The 82-year-old lawmaker’s assertion seemed to be directed at Trump’s nominee for well being secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after a report that one among his advisors filed a petition to revoke approval for the polio vaccine in 2022. It was an indication that Kennedy, who has lengthy superior the debunked concept that vaccines trigger autism, might face resistance within the soon-to-be GOP-controlled Senate.

“Mr. Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied,” stated Katie Miller, the transition spokeswoman for Kennedy, in response to questions.

The New York Times reported Friday {that a} lawyer who helps Kennedy choose candidates for well being official positions filed a petition to get the federal government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine — broadly thought-about to have halted the illness in most elements of the world — and pause distribution of a number of different vaccines. The Washington Post additionally confirmed the petition. The AP has not independently confirmed the petition, which was filed in 2022, based on the Times.

Vaccines have been confirmed to be secure and efficient in laboratory testing and in real-world use in tons of of thousands and thousands of individuals over a long time — they’re thought-about among the many best public well being measures in historical past.

McConnell contracted polio at 2 years outdated however survived, he stated Friday, due to “the miraculous combination of modern medicine and a mother’s love.” He praised the “saving power” of the polio vaccine for the “millions who came after me.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer additionally responded Friday to the Times report. In a put up on X, previously Twitter, he known as it “outrageous and dangerous for people in the Trump Transition to try and get rid of the polio vaccine that has virtually eradicated polio in America and saved millions of lives.

He called on Kennedy to clarify his own position on it.

Trump nominated Kennedy last month, saying he would work to protect Americans “from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives.”

But his nomination was instantly met with alarm from scientists and public well being officers, who worry Kennedy would unwind life-saving public well being initiatives, like vaccines.

Kennedy has pushed different conspiracy theories relating to vaccines, reminiscent of that COVID-19 might have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese folks, feedback he later stated had been taken out of context. He has repeatedly introduced up the Holocaust when discussing vaccines and public well being mandates.

Kennedy stated he plans to remake the Department of Health and Human Services, an company with sprawling attain and a $1.3 trillion funds, if he’s permitted. He has instructed the Food and Drug Administration is beholden to “big pharma,” and his anti-vaccine nonprofit has known as on it to cease utilizing COVID-19 vaccines.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, his nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, petitioned the FDA to halt using all COVID vaccines. The group has alleged that the FDA is beholden to “big pharma” as a result of it receives a lot of its funds from business charges and a few workers who’ve departed the company have gone on to work for drugmakers.

Children’s Health Defense at the moment has a lawsuit pending towards plenty of information organizations, amongst them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust legal guidelines by taking motion to determine misinformation, together with about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took depart from the group when he introduced his run for president however is listed as one among its attorneys within the lawsuit.

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