Trump administration's pro-vax makeover doesn't undo damage

When something seems too good to be true, it likely is.

That's the best way to assess the sudden about-face of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who in recent congressional testimony falsely said he has "never been anti-vaccine." Kennedy also said the measles vaccine is safe and effective "for most people," after decades of saying otherwise.

It's also the case in considering President Donald Trump's choice for the next director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Erica Schwartz, who requires Senate confirmation, has long supported vaccination and vaccine requirements. She has come under severe criticism from anti-vaccine activists; one called her potential ascension "a disaster."

While the two developments may sound like promising changes in the public health landscape, they're likely political theater for now. Until proved otherwise, the assumption must be that the new pro-vax makeover is designed to improve Trump's sagging poll numbers and the administration's positioning on public health ahead of the midterms. 

Kennedy has spent the last 14 months dismantling the nation's public health infrastructure and sowing doubt in vaccination, science and medicine. He canceled $500 million in critical research, attempted to change the childhood vaccine schedule, and fired every member of the essential Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, replacing them with anti-vax members a federal judge deemed unqualified. Kennedy's actions have left the committee — and future vaccine research and approval — in a dangerous limbo. Meanwhile, the CDC reports 1,748 confirmed measles cases in 2026.

And the troubling events have even impacted the publication of key federal research that doesn’t support Kennedy’s past anti-vaccine claims. According to The Washington Post, a report illustrating how the COVID-19 vaccine prevented hospitalizations and emergency room visits among healthy adults has been blocked from being published in the CDC’s key scientific journal.

Those actions are the reality. A backtracking comment or two doesn't undo the damage. 

Kennedy also fired the CDC's former director, Susan Monarez, paving the way for Trump to select Schwartz. But while Schwartz has the right credentials, her success depends on Kennedy. In a telling moment during Kennedy's testimony this week, Democratic Rep. Raul Ruiz of California asked whether he'd commit to implement "whatever vaccine-related guidance she issues without interference."

"I'm not going to make that kind of commitment," Kennedy said.

Kennedy has long made anti-vaccine messaging the centerpiece of his work. But HHS and the CDC have jurisdiction over far more than immunization — and there's legitimate worry that Kennedy is harming other areas of public health, too. Just last week, HHS finally pledged to hire 37 workers for the World Trade Center Health Program, after Kennedy spent months destabilizing the program and halting key progress within it.

He now has said the right things. But it's impossible to believe him. Kennedy won't change who he is. But if given the power within HHS, Schwartz and others could begin rebuilding a functional health care network and restoring trust in public health and vaccination. That requires pro-vaccine, pro-science personnel, decision-making and messaging; significant efforts to improve vaccination rates in problematic pockets nationwide; and commitments to staffing and research across the health spectrum.

Only then can HHS and the CDC really make America healthy again.