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RFK Jr. is trying to write himself out of 2019 Samoan measles epidemic (www.snopes.com)

submitted 5 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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Summary

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s claim that he "had nothing to do with people not vaccinating in Samoa" during the 2019 measles epidemic is not credible.

While a 2018 vaccine mishap and subsequent pause primarily caused low vaccination rates, Kennedy's engagement with the Samoan government, his promotion of anti-vaccine influencers, and his amplification of misinformation contributed to vaccine hesitancy.

The epidemic caused 83 deaths, primarily among children, with a mortality rate over 1%.

Kennedy has since downplayed his role, despite evidence of his involvement in anti-vaccine advocacy.

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[-] BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world 21 points 5 days ago

John Oliver did a segment on him too. The thing that pisses me off most about RFK Jr is his use of a child's untimely death to imply COVID vaccines caused his death (when the kid wasn't even vaccinated against COVID). Shit like that is torturous to parents and as a parent it makes me livid.

this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2025

464 points (99.8% liked)

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