Don’t Trust RFK Jr.? Here’s Where to Find Reliable Vaccine Information

by Jennifer Porter Gore, Word in Black

Lack of health care access, distrust of racist medical policies — and now misinformation — increase questions about vaccines.

Infectious diseases that the U.S. had conquered decades ago — thanks to highly effective vaccines — are surging again, due to an uptick in vaccine avoidance.

So far this year, three people have died and 162 have been hospitalized in the nation’s worst measles outbreak in over 30 years. Public health departments are reporting alarming surges in old-fashioned diseases like mumps and rubella. Others, like diphtheria, pertussis (also called whooping cough), and polio, are on track to infect more Americans than they have in decades. 

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, childhood immunization rates for key vaccines have declined across more than 30 U.S. states, fueled by misinformation and government policy. And experts say, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is a major culprit: in May, he replaced an expert, 17-member government vaccine advisory panel with eight lesser-credentialed individuals, including several known anti-vaxxers like himself. 

With a new school year and flu season fast approaching, knowing which official vaccine schedule to follow — and whom to trust — will be critical for everyone in general and the Black community in particular. That’s because Black Americans tend to have lower vaccination rates. Lack of health insurance and concerns about the medical profession’s racist history are major causes.  

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which Kennedy overhauled, approved the current child and adolescent immunization schedule in November. But that list, previously published on the CDC’s website, has been removed and updated with other information as of May 29.   

With that in mind, Word In Black has compiled a list of trusted, nonprofit health organizations that have current information about which vaccines are safe, when they should be taken, and who should take them. 

See the full list.

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