Officials feared crossing RFK Jr as bird flu vaccination plan was blocked: report

PoliticsHealth & Fitness
14 Oct 2026 • 7:17 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Officials feared crossing RFK Jr as bird flu vaccination plan was blocked: report

  • Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine stance reportedly led officials to shelve a U.S. bird flu vaccination response plan.
  • Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins worried that an internal strategy to vaccinate poultry would clash with Kennedy's vaccine-skeptical views.
  • Kennedy suggested letting the H5N1 virus run through bird flocks to develop natural immunity, a proposal veterinary experts warned could spark dangerous mutations.
  • The finalized vaccination strategy was restricted to fewer than a dozen internal officials rather than shared internationally to curb global outbreaks.
  • Kennedy also reportedly attempted to divert $5 billion from the National Institutes of Health to study debunked links between vaccines and autism.

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