The Food and Drug Administration's top vaccine official says he hopes to find common ground with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. chose thursday To be appointed by President-elect Donald Trump to head the Department of Health and Human Services.
“What I would say to them is to keep an open mind. We're happy to try to show as much data as we can. And I think the data is inevitably overwhelming in some areas, but we just want to join the conversation.” Will happen,” said Dr Peter Marks, speaking at an event events This week, hosted by the Milken Institute in Washington, D.C. Trump's decision,
Kennedy has stressed that he is not “anti-vaccine” and has promised not to ban vaccines under Trump. instead, Kennedy has promised In order to “restore transparency” around vaccine safety data and records, he accuses HHS officials of a cover-up.
Marx flatly rejected Kennedy's claims about the security data.
He said, “There are no secret files. I mean, if they're secret, I have a security clearance. If they're secret from me, they should be at some other level of classification.”
Public health experts object to Kennedy's long record misleading statement They are raising questions about the vaccine's safety and worrying that the vaccine could reverse decades of hard-won gains vaccination rates against serious illness,
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a watchdog group that has often clashed with the FDA, compared to The option of “putting a flat earther over NASA's head”.
Marx, a career civil servant who played a key role in launching the Trump administration operation warp speed answer to COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, says he “sat across the room” from Kennedy when vaccines were discussed several times.
However, he said he worries that wasting time “re-prosecuting things that we know work” could undermine other important FDA efforts — and potentially during future pandemics. can be fatal if it further reduces self-confidence. vaccines – Marks also said that working with RFK Jr. could prove to be a ray of hope.
“Maybe engaging in that dialogue, especially if it's in a public space, can help. It can help bring some of the rest of the country together because sometimes when someone is convinced is, then maybe, just maybe, some people from the rest of the country will join in,” she said.
Greg Nash/The Hill/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Marks rejected Kennedy's claim that the FDA was full of corrupt officials who needed to be fired, emphasizing that the employees were dedicated to protecting the health of Americans. Marks said he hoped to keep his job under Trump and Kennedy and protect the team at its center.
“What they do is to protect the American people. Not for any kind of nefarious purpose. And during the COVID pandemic, people have worked 14 hours a day,” Marks said of the agency's employees. Worked hours.”
Kennedy has vowed to end the agency's “war on public health.” alert Activists who are “part of this corrupt system” are told to “pack their bags.”
He has specifically pledged to fire all nutrition scientists at the FDA and other agencies on day one, accusing them of being co-opted by corporate interests.
Kennedy said, “I look forward to working with the more than 80,000 employees at HHS to free the agencies from the crippling cloud of corporate capture so they can once again fulfill their mission of making Americans the healthiest people on Earth.” Can take it forward.” Posted On Thursday
Asked about Kennedy's scientific expertise, Marks said he felt Kennedy's understanding was “not as deep as others'”, but added, “I know a lot of lawyers who have more than a PhD in medicine and Know more than MD. So it's just a matter of keeping an open mind.”
While Kennedy's choice for the role was only announced Thursday, health officials have been considering the possibility for some time. During the campaign, Trump vowed that if he won he would let Kennedy “go wild” on health issues.
“President Trump wants to see, he has told me, he wants to see concrete, measurable reductions in chronic disease within two years,” Kennedy. Said On 9th November.
Kennedy says she has called on Trump to declare an emergency to combat chronic disease, thereby addressing the root causes of the federal government's failure to address rising rates of a variety of diseases from autism to obesity. So that pressure can be put on their rights.
Kennedy said, “To do that, we need to act very, very quickly. And we need to treat this the same way we did, with the COVID pandemic. This COVID “Thousands of times worse.”