How ‘revenge of the Covid contrarians’ unleashed by RFK Jr puts broader vaccine advances at risk

The health secretary has pledged to fight chronic illness, but experts say he risks increasing it with department cuts

The US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, entered office with a pledge to tackle the US's chronic disease epidemic and give infectious disease a break". In at least one of those goals, Kennedy has been expeditious.

Experts said as Kennedy makes major cuts in public health in his first weeks in office, the infrastructure built to mitigate Covid-19 has become a clear target - an aim that has the dual effect of weakening immunization efforts as the US endures the largest measles outbreak since 2000.