Summary

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s claim that he “had nothing to do with people not vaccinating in Samoa” during the 2019 measles epidemic is not credible.

While a 2018 vaccine mishap and subsequent pause primarily caused low vaccination rates, Kennedy’s engagement with the Samoan government, his promotion of anti-vaccine influencers, and his amplification of misinformation contributed to vaccine hesitancy.

The epidemic caused 83 deaths, primarily among children, with a mortality rate over 1%.

Kennedy has since downplayed his role, despite evidence of his involvement in anti-vaccine advocacy.

  • Blackout
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    fedilink
    94 days ago

    “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

    • @[email protected]
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      fedilink
      194 days ago

      Alas, in this case the suffering is the point. It’s working just fine for RFKjr, and his handlers. But they can’t ’let the cat out of the bag’ before they get to try this on a larger population. So for now they have to maintain ‘plausible deniability’. Most of their base has never heard of Samoa, or at most think it’s a kind of cookie.