Larson Condemns RFK Jr.’s Push to Limit Childhood Vaccines

East Hartford, CT – Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) condemned Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement gutting the childhood vaccine schedule, changing the number of recommended vaccinations from 17 to 11. If this policy goes into effect, immunizations for diseases such as RSV, influenza, and Hepatitis A will no longer be recommended to all children. 

“The longer Secretary Kennedy remains in his role, the more he will endanger the health of our nation’s children,” said Larson. “This latest move, bypassing even his handpicked advisory panel, is his newest low yet. Mr. Kennedy continues to put his anti-vaccine conspiracy theories ahead of scientific fact, destroying hard-won public health victories. He needs to resign before our kids pay the price for this anti-science agenda.”  

Last month, Secretary Kennedy’s vaccine panel reversed decades-long guidance for newborns to receive the Hepatitis B vaccine. In September, Larson called for Kennedy to resign after he doubled down on his anti-vaccine purge during a Senate hearing. Since he was sworn in, Kennedy has dismissed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) that recommends vaccines, canceled $500 million in funding for vaccine research, and announced new restrictions on the COVID-19 vaccine.   

Connecticut currently leads the nation with a 98.3% childhood vaccination rate, avoiding measles outbreaks plaguing other states.