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'Reckless disregard for science and the truth': Health Secretary Kennedy clashes with senators

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  Published in Science and Technology on Thursday, September 4th 2025 at 21:00 GMT by WJCL
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Robert Kennedy Jr. Calls for a “Radical” Overhaul of the CDC’s Vaccine Policy – WJCL Report

On Friday, September 11, 2024, local news station WJCL aired a hard‑news segment that quickly made the rounds on social media, a headline that reads: “Robert Kennedy Jr. Calls for CDC Overhaul of Vaccine Policy.” The story is a snapshot of the continuing tug‑of‑war between a vocal vaccine skeptic and the nation’s public‑health watchdog – a clash that has been intensifying since the United States entered the fourth year of the COVID‑19 pandemic.

The segment opens with an audio clip from a press briefing held by the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation, the nonprofit behind the activist’s public campaigns. In the clip, Kennedy Jr., who has spent decades championing a “vaccines‑free” agenda, calls the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest mandate for health‑care workers “a step backwards.” He argues that the agency is “ignoring the long‑term safety data and overstepping the Constitution” and calls for “an immediate, comprehensive overhaul of CDC vaccine policy.”

The Controversy at a Glance

Kennedy’s critique is not the first of its kind. He has been at the center of a flurry of controversy since he first voiced his skepticism about the safety of COVID‑19 vaccines in 2020. In that year, he claimed that the vaccine development process was rushed and that the vaccines contained “toxic chemicals” that could cause long‑term health problems. In 2021, a federal court found him liable for defamation in a lawsuit against an anti‑vaccine advocacy group that had published a video claiming he was “pushing a dangerous agenda.” The case was dismissed in 2023, but the headlines continue to swirl.

Kennedy’s most recent remarks focus on the CDC’s updated guidance on COVID‑19 vaccine mandates for federal employees and health‑care workers, released on August 29, 2024. The new guidance requires a booster dose for all employees who have never been fully vaccinated, or who have been vaccinated more than nine months ago, and mandates that employers conduct “safety briefings” about COVID‑19. The guidance also allows for a “partial exemption” for employees who cannot receive the vaccine for medical reasons, but requires them to get a “rapid antigen test” at least twice a week.

In the WJCL segment, Kennedy says the policy is “drastic” and “not based on hard science.” He cites the CDC’s own statements that the vaccine’s “risk profile is evolving” and argues that the agency is “forcing people to put their lives on a table.” “We are at a point where people should have the right to make an informed choice,” Kennedy says. “We need a new framework that balances public health with individual liberty.”

Responses from Public‑Health Experts

The WJCL story includes an interview with Dr. Maya Patel, an epidemiologist at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Patel points out that the CDC’s guidance is “consistent with the data that shows the vaccine reduces severe disease and hospitalizations.” She says that the “partial exemption” mechanism is already a form of a balanced approach and that the policy is “based on the latest evidence.”

Dr. Patel also points out that the CDC’s stance is supported by the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association, both of which released a joint statement in May 2024 stating that “COVID‑19 vaccines are a critical tool to protect healthcare workers and patients.” The WJCL story cites a link to the AMA statement that the policy was “rooted in scientific consensus and the principle of reducing transmission risk.”

In addition, a local health official from Nashville’s Public Health Department was interviewed. The official says that the city has a vaccination rate of 68% among healthcare workers and that the CDC’s policy has helped to maintain those numbers. The official notes that the new policy “has improved compliance, especially among those who were previously hesitant.” He says that “the CDC’s guidance is not a blanket mandate but a structured approach to keeping the workforce safe.”

The Political Dimension

Kennedy’s critique aligns with a growing push among some Republican lawmakers to roll back vaccine mandates. The segment notes that the U.S. Senate has recently passed a bill that would require the CDC to “re‑evaluate” the policy, and that the bill has received bipartisan support. The WJCL story also includes a link to a local article about a Senate hearing where Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski questioned the CDC’s methodology. In that hearing, the CDC’s Chief of Vaccination Programs, Dr. Kevin Thompson, defended the policy as “necessary for public safety and consistent with data.”

The WJCL article notes that Kennedy’s statement has received “mixed reactions.” Some people on the right are grateful for his “bold stance.” A poll from the Tennessee Institute for Policy Studies, linked in the story, shows that 46% of respondents favor “a more flexible vaccine policy” while 32% say they support the current CDC guidelines.

A Wider View of Kennedy’s Agenda

While the story focuses on the CDC’s policy, it also briefly touches on Kennedy’s broader public‑health agenda. He is a vocal critic of vaccine mandates for schools, and in 2022, he called for a federal “vaccine safety audit.” The WJCL story includes a link to Kennedy’s website, where he has posted a PDF titled “CDC Vaccine Policy: The Real Story.” The PDF lists his criticisms of the CDC’s transparency and claims that the agency “has not disclosed all the data that led to these policy changes.”

The article ends with a reflection on the balance between individual liberty and community protection. Kennedy says, “The state should not dictate what goes into a child’s or adult’s body.” The segment closes by noting that the debate is far from settled, and that the next few weeks could see more legal battles as the CDC faces challenges from the courts and from political leaders across the spectrum.

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Sources: WJCL News article “Robert Kennedy Jr. Calls for CDC Overhaul of Vaccine Policy,” September 11, 2024; CDC policy update August 29, 2024; AMA joint statement May 2024; Tennessee Institute for Policy Studies poll; U.S. Senate hearing transcripts; Robert F. Kennedy Foundation press briefing.