For years, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has raised questions about vaccine safety. Now, as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kennedy oversees the government’s key health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Kennedy believes that parents should choose whether to immunize their children, which contradicts the science behind population immunity. Since January, a measles outbreak originating in Texas has sickened hundreds and led to the first deaths from the disease in the U.S. in years. Meanwhile, there have been cuts and layoffs in Kennedy’s HHS, the CDC has removed immunization messages, and researchers requesting grants from the NIH have been warned to avoid referencing “mRNA,” the technology behind the COVID-19 vaccines. Two months into his role, Kennedy is already having an outsize impact on U.S. health care.
Park is a TIME senior correspondent