Top Republican 'struggling' with RFK Jr.'s nomination over Kennedy's vaccine views

Sen. Bernie Sanders accused Kennedy of praising Andrew Wakefield, the primary author of a now-debunked paper from the U.K. in 1998, which allegedly found that MMR vaccines cause autism.

The paper has since been discredited by health experts and retracted from the journal in which it was published.

In February 2004, The Sunday Times published an investigation, accusing Wakefield of a conflict of interest.

It alleged some of the parents of the children in the paper were suing vaccine manufacturers prior to its publication and Wakefield had received funding to try to find a link between the MMR vaccine and autism, which was not disclosed in the Lancet article. This led to 10 of the 13 authors withdrawing their support.

In 2010, Wakefield lost his medical license after the paper was discredited and an investigation found he had acted "dishonestly and irresponsibly" in conducting his research. More than a dozen high-quality studies have since found no evidence of a link between childhood vaccines and autism.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is one key Republican vote to watch throughout Kennedy's nomination.

On Wednesday, she said it was "premature" to decide on Kennedy before the end of the hearings.

During her allotted time for questioning on Thursday, Collins asked Kennedy about his view on certain vaccines and herd immunity, as well as on Lyme disease -- a personal issue for both Collins and Kennedy.

Kennedy assured her he believed the polio vaccine was safe and he would not reduce its availability if confirmed. He also said there's "nobody who will fight harder for a treatment for Lyme disease," which Collins said she appreciated.

Democratic Sen. Ed Markey discussed Kennedy's trip to American Samoa just before a deadly measles outbreak. Markey said he believed the incident disqualified Kennedy from leading HHS.

Kennedy has said he had nothing to do with the outbreak.

The 2019 measles outbreak led to more than 5,700 cases and 83 deaths. The Ministry of Health cited Kennedy's visit and rhetoric as exacerbating vaccine hesitancy at a crucial moment, according to a publication from The Lancet.

Read more here.

During Wednesday's hearing, Kennedy tried to assuage concerns from both sides of the aisle on his vaccine stance -- repeatedly claiming he is not anti-vaccine but "pro-safety" and vowing not to discourage people from taking immunizations for measles and polio.

Thursday, he's pushing back more to defend some of his past controversial views and statements. He's also avoiding yes or no questions on where he stands on several vaccines and other programs, leaving several Democrats exasperated.

So far, no Democrats have said they will support his nomination. His answers so far in the confirmation process seem unlikely to change that.