Anti-vaxers are putting Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on blast for promoting the MMR vaccine as “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles”—by falsely arguing no one has died from measles.
On Sunday, RFK Jr. shared that he had visited the families of eight-year-old Daisy Hildebrand and six-year-old Kayley Fehr, the two unvaccinated children who died after contracting measles in Texas.
“My intention was to come down here quietly to console the families and to be with the community in their moment of grief,” RFK Jr. wrote. “I am also here to support Texas health officials and to learn how our HHS agencies can better partner with them to control the measles outbreak, which as of today, there are 642 confirmed cases of measles across 22 states, 499 of those in Texas.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends two doses of the MMR vaccine to protect against measles, mumps, and rubella, the first of which is administered when a child is 12-15 months old and the second between the ages of four and six.
RFK Jr., who himself has espoused anti-vaccine beliefs in the past, firmly supported the use of the MMR vaccine in his post discussing the two deaths—much to the chagrin of anti-vaxxers online.
“SELL-OUT,” rebuked one person in response to the post.
“Can I rescind my vote?” questioned someone else.
But on Truth Social, RFK Jr.’s anti-vax critics have gone a step further, floating a conspiracy theory that Hildebrand and Fehr did not actually die from measles.
“The child died from pneumonia and hospital protocols..not from Measles,” one Truther wrote in response to RFK’s pro-MMR vaccine stance.
“The records show that, having recovered from measles, she was stricken with poorly managed pneumonia, which was made worse by incorrect treatment,” another conspiracy theorist claimed of Fehr’s death. “The expert points the finger at a medical error: inadequate treatment led to her death in intensive care, not the virus.”
“Measles is a minor virus that has been falsely painted as dangerous,” concluded another user. “Children don’t die from measles. (The 6-year-old child who died a couple of weeks ago in west Texas died from bacterial pneumonia caused by medical error, not from measles).”
That same user went on to claim: “In fact, it’s actually healthier for children to be unvaxxed and exposed to measles while still children.”
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Hildebrand’s doctors said she had no underlying conditions and her cause of death was measles pulmonary failure.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported Fehr as the “first death from measles in the ongoing outbreak in the South Plains and Panhandle regions.”
The conspiracy that the child didn’t die from measles has been floating around the site for weeks, with accusations that big pharma was misreporting the death to “smear RFK Jr.”
This is the second time RFK Jr. has endorsed the MMR vaccine as the epidemic rages. While his first post was written off as a deep state headfake, the right is now raging as he’s gone full jab.
“Kennedy needs to pull his head out of his ass and resign now!” wrote in response to news of the MMR plug.
According to CBS News, about 20% of unvaccinated children who get measles may need to be hospitalized, and between one and three cases in every 1,000 is fatal.
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