Public health experts are trashing a new video anti-vaxer and COVID misinformer HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted to social media recently, falsely downplaying the importance of vaccines in reducing the burdens of death and disease from vaccine-preventable childhood diseases, and as usual, misrepresenting the sources he used to make his misleading vaccine claims while focusing primarily on the roles of sanitation, nutrition, etc.

 

Kennedy Video on Death Rates Before Vaccines Ignores Other Harms of Infection

— American public health aims higher than just preventing deaths, experts say

 

October 2, 2025 

 

"Earlier this week, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a 7-minute video on X in which he promised to "shred" a chart displayed during his Senate hearing last month.

 

Kennedy proclaimed that deaths due to some of the most common infectious diseases fell dramatically during the 20th century long before vaccines were widely used. But experts said Kennedy is comparing apples to oranges. The chart focused on infections, not deaths -- and infections have been substantially reduced by vaccination. [emphasis added]

 

Along with that decline in infection comes a reduction in hospitalization, severe illness, and further reductions in mortality, they said.  "Just because somebody doesn't die, that doesn't take away the importance of the fact that they may develop severe illness or be hospitalized," Robert Bednarczyk, PhD, an epidemiologist at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, told MedPage Today.

...

Measles cases declined dramatically after the vaccination program, and along with that came further reductions in measles deaths, to the point where the disease was declared "eliminated" from the country in 2000."

 

(more)

 

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/publichealth/117764

 

 

AND

 

 

Secretary Kennedy’s false vaccine narrative threatens lives and public health

 

September 30, 2025

 

"A new Department of Health and Human Services video alarmingly pits vaccines against other public health priorities, such as nutrition, exercise and sanitation. Secretary Kennedy presents a false dichotomy by misrepresenting what the data tell us about the substantial effectiveness of vaccines. His message contradicts all scientific evidence and puts lives at risk.

    

Data clearly indicate that major reductions in deaths due to infectious diseases in the past century are due to medical advances like antibiotics and vaccines, combined with initiatives like improved sanitation and hygiene. While some reductions in death occurred before vaccines, significant reductions in diseases themselves — which often caused hospitalization and long-term health damage such as disabilities, blindness and hearing loss — did not occur until after the use of vaccines. [emphasis added]

 

For several infectious diseases, including pneumococcal infections, Haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis B, HPV and others, significant reductions in deaths occurred only after vaccines were introduced and implemented. Vaccines continue to be directly responsible for preventing millions of disease cases and deaths. 

 

Secretary Kennedy’s agenda to sow doubt and confusion about vaccines and restrict vaccine access is already severely harming Americans. This year, we’re seeing a record number of measles cases — the highest since measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, when the disease was no longer spreading continuously here — and countless Americans are still struggling to access a COVID vaccine.  ...  Americans deserve access to evidence-based information, safe and effective vaccines, healthy food and all other public health measures recommended by health care professionals to help us lead long, healthy lives. 

 

Tina Tan, MD

President, Infectious Diseases Society of America

 

https://www.idsociety.org/news--publications-new/articles/2025/secretary-kennedys-false-vaccine-narrative-threatens-lives-and-public-health/

 

 

 

An explanation on how the sources cited in Kennedy's video don't actually support the claims he's making:

 

Kennedy’s Claim: CDC Study Shows Vaccines Deserve “Little Credit”

 

"Kennedy cites a 2000 CDC/Johns Hopkins study by Guyer and colleagues claiming it shows vaccines deserve “little credit.” But he strips its conclusion out of context. The study states: “Thus vaccination does not account for the impressive declines in mortality seen in the first half of the century.”  The first half. Before 1950. When there were few vaccines. [emphasis added]

 

Indeed, Guyer’s review of the entire century’s data confirms this pattern. Between 1900 and 1998, infectious diseases’ share of childhood deaths dropped from 61.6% to just 2%. The study explicitly credits post-1950 medical advances—including vaccines—for “nearly eliminating” deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases like diphtheria, pertussis, and polio. The authors note that “the decline in infant mortality received new momentum in the 1960s,” specifically due to medical interventions, not sanitation improvements. They confirm that “The reductions in vaccine-preventable diseases are impressive.... Deaths from [diphtheria, pertussis, and measles] have been virtually eliminated, as have deaths from Haemophilus influenzae, tetanus, and poliomyelitis.”  Kennedy uses a study that actually supports vaccination to argue against it."

 

 

Kennedy’s Claim: The McKinlay Study Proves His Point

 

"Kennedy’s video relies heavily on the McKinlay & McKinlay 1977 study, repeatedly citing their finding that medical measures contributed at most 3.5% to mortality decline before 1950. What he doesn’t mention? The McKinlays themselves explicitly reject anti-vaccine interpretations of their work. [emphasis added]

 

In 2020, when reflecting on how anti-vaccine advocates misuse their research, the McKinlays stated: “We consider this an egregious misinterpretation of our research. Effective vaccines clearly have an important role in the ongoing containment of a disease after its prevalence has been reduced.” They specifically cite the resurgence of measles following reduced vaccination as proof that vaccines remain essential."

 

Unbiased Science blog

https://theunbiasedscipod.substack.com/p/why-i-shower-after-flying-and-why

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/BenMazer/status/1972847575373135957

 

 

 

 

40 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

This year, we’re seeing a record number of measles cases — the highest since measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, when the disease was no longer spreading continuously here — and countless Americans are still struggling to access a COVID vaccine. 

 

How many of those measles outbreaks are starting in immigrant shelters?  And what does it say when the measles cases spiked in the Mennonite community that has never vaccinated?  The variable?  Exposure to unvetted, untested immigrants.

 

And who is struggling to get a Covid jab?  I keep getting texts from my insurance company begging me to get another.  Telling me how easy it is.  In spite of them spending tens of thousands of dollars treating my Pfizer injury in ERs.

 

28 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

How many of those measles outbreaks are starting in immigrant shelters?  And what does it say when the measles cases spiked in the Mennonite community that has never vaccinated?  The variable?  Exposure to unvetted, untested immigrants.

 

And who is struggling to get a Covid jab?  I keep getting texts from my insurance company begging me to get another.  Telling me how easy it is.  In spite of them spending tens of thousands of dollars treating my Pfizer injury in ERs.

 

 

It must be interesting living in a fact-free bubble. While some immigrants have been involved in measles outbreaks in the U.S., they're not the primary source of outbreaks and infections. American citizens and residents are:

 

 

--AI assisted

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

It must be interesting living in a fact-free bubble:

 

 

--AI assisted

 

More proof that AI is all down to who "trains" it.  Garbage in, garbage out.

 

Is that the same CDC that presided over the massive Covid failure in the USA?  4x more deaths per capita than even the 3rd world in spite of spending more (by far) than any other country.

 

 

24 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

More proof that AI is all down to who "trains" it.  Garbage in, garbage out.

 

 

OK.. don't like AI? (although I'm sure you would if it provided the false answer you wanted). You can try this instead:

 

Where is measles coming from?

Data shows that it’s not illegal immigration

Katelyn Jetelina

Apr 11, 2024

Most cases are U.S. residents traveling abroad

 

"Health departments investigate every measles outbreak to prevent it from spreading. They ask people all sorts of questions to understand where the virus has spread and who needs to quarantine. This is called contact tracing. If we aggregate contact tracing data, as scientific teams have done in previous years, this is what the data tells us:
 

• In 2019, our last bad measles year, 77%* of index cases (i.e., patient zero for an outbreak) were U.S. residents who had recently traveled and returned home infected. The top source countries were the Philippines, Ukraine, Israel, Thailand, and Vietnam.
   

• The massive 2019 New York outbreak among the unvaccinated Orthodox Jewish community started when a child picked up measles on a trip to Israel and returned home.
   

• In 2015, the previously bad measles year, CDC reported 159 measles cases—155 (97%) were U.S. residents, and 4 were foreign travelers. The source regions were the East Mediterranean, Asia, and Europe.

 

(more)

 

Your Local Epidemiologist blog

https://web.archive.org/web/20250405074154/https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/where-is-measles-coming-from

 

 

7 minutes ago, impulse said:

Is that the same CDC that presided over the massive Covid failure in the USA?  4x more deaths per capita than even the 3rd world in spite of spending more (by far) than any other country.

 

Seems to me they spent money on the wrong thing.

9 minutes ago, johng said:

 

Seems to me they spent money on the wrong thing.

 

That's what happens when too many Americans were wrongly convinced to skip COVID vaccinations that could have saved their lives:

 

"Vaccines have proven to be spectacularly effective in preventing death from Covid-19, but throughout 2021 and 2022, the U.S. struggled to keep Americans up to date on vaccinations. Our Vaccine Preventable Deaths Dashboard shows that in that time when vaccines were widely available, every second Covid-19 death could have been prevented by vaccines.

...

an analysis by our team at the Brown School of Public Health, in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Microsoft AI for Health showing that between January 2021 and April 2022, vaccines could have prevented at least 318,000 Covid-19 deaths. This means that at least every second person who died from Covid-19 since vaccines became available might have been saved by getting the shot. [emphasis added]

 

Brown University School of Public Health

 

https://globalepidemics.org/vaccinations/

 

https://globalepidemics.org/2022/05/13/new-analysis-shows-vaccines-could-have-prevented-318000-deaths/

 

 

 

15 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

OK.. don't like AI? (although I'm sure you would if it provided the false answer you wanted). You can try this instead:

 

Where is measles coming from?

Data shows that it’s not illegal immigration

Katelyn Jetelina

Apr 11, 2024

Most cases are U.S. residents traveling abroad

 

"Health departments investigate every measles outbreak to prevent it from spreading. They ask people all sorts of questions to understand where the virus has spread and who needs to quarantine. This is called contact tracing. If we aggregate contact tracing data, as scientific teams have done in previous years, this is what the data tells us:
 

• In 2019, our last bad measles year, 77%* of index cases (i.e., patient zero for an outbreak) were U.S. residents who had recently traveled and returned home infected. The top source countries were the Philippines, Ukraine, Israel, Thailand, and Vietnam.
   

• The massive 2019 New York outbreak among the unvaccinated Orthodox Jewish community started when a child picked up measles on a trip to Israel and returned home.
   

• In 2015, the previously bad measles year, CDC reported 159 measles cases—155 (97%) were U.S. residents, and 4 were foreign travelers. The source regions were the East Mediterranean, Asia, and Europe.

 

(more)

 

Your Local Epidemiologist blog

https://web.archive.org/web/20250405074154/https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/where-is-measles-coming-from

 

The common theme of both of those studies is that the data came from before Biden opened the borders to any and all.

 

2015 and 2019.

9 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

The common theme of both of those studies is that the data came from before Biden opened the borders to any and all.

 

2015 and 2019.

 

 

Ahh, so you think illegal immigration to the U.S. only began during Biden's years as president???  Right!!!

 

11 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

 

Ahh, so you think illegal immigration to the U.S. only began during Biden's years as president???  Right!!!

 

It was the volume of immigration that changed 

5 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

It was the volume of immigration that changed 

 

In 2019, our last bad measles year, 77%* of index cases (i.e., patient zero for an outbreak) were U.S. residents who had recently traveled and returned home infected. The top source countries were the Philippines, Ukraine, Israel, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Trash that guy in total, not only his "expertise"🥵

41 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

In 2019, our last bad measles year, 77%* of index cases (i.e., patient zero for an outbreak) were U.S. residents who had recently traveled and returned home infected. The top source countries were the Philippines, Ukraine, Israel, Thailand, and Vietnam.

And?

9 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

And?

 

As usual, you have no pertinent facts or credible sources to support the claims you're making re the primary source of measles infections.... 

 

 

--AI assisted

 

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

As usual, you have no pertinent facts or credible sources to support the claims you're making re the primary source of measles infections.... 

 

I was only pointing out your lies about illegal immigration; I said nothing about measles. 

 

As usual, you have no pertinent facts or credible sources to support the claims you're making re illegal immigration, so you change the subject.

Public health experts trash new Kennedy/HHS video vaccine claims

 

After trashing the health of millions/billions of people, Public Health experts found a new target for their trashing practices... 

This story tell it all !

 

 

8 minutes ago, rumak said:

This story tells it all !

< revolving doors.jpg > 

24 minutes ago, Red Phoenix said:

 

worth repeating ......😶 

 

day after day after each TGJ   deluded post .