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By Anna Skinner
Associate News Editor
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., long one of the nation's most prominent vaccine skeptics, has recently offered some of his strongest public support yet for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine amid a surge in measles cases across the U.S. But while the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary appears to have softened his stance on MMR, there is far less evidence that he has similarly reversed course on COVID-19, HPV, hepatitis B, and other routine childhood vaccines.
Kennedy has spent decades questioning vaccine safety and helping lead the modern anti-vaccine movement. But since becoming HHS secretary, he has publicly said the government "promotes" the MMR vaccine, acknowledged that it is highly effective at preventing measles, and said children should receive it, marking a notable shift in tone from many of his past statements.
Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told Newsweek that vaccines undergo a lengthy and rigorous development process before they reach the public. That process can involve decades of research to develop vaccine strains, followed by testing through three phases of clinical trials and review by advisory panels at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Even after approval, vaccines continue to be monitored through post-licensure studies designed to detect very rare side effects.
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“Vaccines are held to a very high standard of safety and efficacy,” he told Newsweek. “When you’re giving something to a healthy child, you have to hold to high standard of safety.”
What Did RFK Jr Say About the Measles Vaccine?
Kennedy's revised stance on MMR was reconfirmed on Sunday in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash, when, after arguing with Bash about the U.S. COVID-19 response and vaccines, Kennedy said: "Parents should get their children vaccinated for measles. A measles vaccine is effective. It stops measles in about 97 percent of the cases. People should get vaccinated."
RFK Jr: His Position on Other Vaccines
By contrast, Kennedy has largely maintained his skepticism of COVID-19 vaccines, continues to support changes to hepatitis B vaccination recommendations for newborns, and has not clearly reversed his longstanding criticisms of the HPV vaccine.
Newsweek reached out to the HHS by email for comment.
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MMR
Kennedy's comments on MMR have attracted particular attention because they come amid one of the largest U.S. measles outbreaks in years.
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In Senate hearings earlier this year, he praised the vaccine's effectiveness and said health officials advise children to receive it, remarks that differed substantially from his earlier rhetoric. In the interview with Bash, Kennedy said he has never questioned the efficacy of the MMR vaccine.
However, Kennedy has previously said the vaccine is "leaky" and alleged that the vaccine's effectiveness diminishes over time.
While public health experts continue to scrutinize his statements and policies, MMR is the vaccine for which there is the strongest evidence that Kennedy has moderated his position.
How Many Cases of Measles in the US This Year
According to the latest data from the CDC, the United States has reported 2,371 confirmed measles cases in 2026 as of July 30, surpassing the 2,289 cases recorded during all of 2025 and marking the highest annual total in more than three decades.
Cases have been reported across 45 jurisdictions, while an additional 16 cases were identified among international visitors. The CDC has documented 37 measles outbreaks so far this year, and the vast majority of infections, about 94 percent (2,219 of 2,371 cases), have been linked to outbreaks. Health officials have warned that measles continues to spread primarily in under-vaccinated communities, with the resurgence coming as kindergarten MMR vaccination coverage has fallen below the 95 percent threshold generally needed to prevent widespread transmission.
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To help contain the outbreak, the CDC has deployed epidemiologists and other experts to assist affected states, provided laboratory testing and genomic sequencing support, analyzed outbreak data, and supplied vaccines and technical assistance to local health departments. The agency has also distributed educational materials and community outreach resources while continuing to emphasize that the MMR vaccine is the most effective tool for preventing measles.
COVID-19
Kennedy has continued to question broad COVID vaccination recommendations and has remained critical of the shots' risk-benefit profile, especially among children. Vaccine policy discussions during his tenure have reflected that skepticism, including efforts to narrow recommendations for some groups rather than expand them.
In the interview with Bash, Kennedy argued that there was no proof that the COVID-19 vaccine protected children and asked Bash to find one study that showed the vaccine did "more good than harm" for children.
"Every study has shown [COVID] vaccines prevent children from serious disease,” Offit told Newsweek.
HPV
Kennedy has been a longtime critic of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which helps prevent several HPV-related cancers. He has previously backed legal and advocacy campaigns focused on alleged vaccine injuries. Although his position on some vaccines has appeared to evolve in recent years, there is no clear indication that he has fully abandoned his concerns about the HPV vaccine or embraced it as strongly as he has recently endorsed the MMR vaccine.
Offit said HPV vaccination has dramatically reduced the burden of cervical cancer in the United States.
Hepatitis B
Kennedy has also questioned the long-standing recommendation that newborns receive a hepatitis B vaccine dose shortly after birth. Under his tenure, federal health officials moved to revise parts of the childhood immunization schedule, including recommendations related to the hepatitis B birth dose.
However, those changes were later blocked by a federal court order, and the CDC currently lists the prior childhood immunization schedule as its operative guidance, which continues to recommend hepatitis B vaccination beginning at birth. Medical groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics have defended the existing schedule and warned against weakening vaccine recommendations.
Routine Childhood Vaccines
Kennedy has increasingly described his approach as focused on greater transparency, informed consent and parental choice rather than opposition to vaccines across the board. At the same time, as HHS secretary he has supported reviews and proposed changes affecting parts of the childhood immunization schedule, including recommendations involving combination vaccines and infant vaccination. Critics argue those actions reflect continuing skepticism toward established vaccine policy, even as his rhetoric has become less overtly confrontational.
Taken together, the available evidence suggests Kennedy has gone further in publicly endorsing the MMR vaccine than he has with several other vaccines he has previously criticized. In recent remarks, he said parents should vaccinate their children against measles and described the measles vaccine as effective. By contrast, there is less evidence of a comparable shift on COVID-19, HPV, hepatitis B vaccination or the broader childhood immunization schedule, where he has continued to support reviews or changes to existing recommendations.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Gray R. Thomas
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