Some University of Maryland public health leaders and students are concerned after vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary last Thursday.

President Donald Trump nominated Kennedy for the role in November. As the department’s secretary, Kennedy oversees the functions, policies and budgets of several agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

But many university community members say Kennedy’s history of vaccine skepticism could pose a public health risk and decrease public trust in science.

“The Trump administration has come in with a really clear agenda to shake things up in the federal government and I think that the selection or nomination of RFK Jr. … reflects that priority,” Mika Hamer, an assistant health policy and management professor, told The Diamondback.

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In 2016, Kennedy co-founded the World Mercury Project, which is now known as The Children’s Health Defense. The nonprofit, which has opened international branches, is an anti-vaccine group that has spread conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines, according to the Associated Press. Since 2020, the group has filed nearly 30 federal and state lawsuits, including many that challenge vaccine and public health mandates, NPR reported in December.

He resigned as the chairman of The Children’s Health Defense in December after his health and human services secretary nomination.

Kennedy has previously claimed that vaccines can lead to autism, the Associated Press reported. He also came under scrutiny in 2023 when he called COVID-19 “ethnically targeted” to protect Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese people, the outlet reported.

Many studies have shown that there is no correlation between vaccines and autism, according to the CDC website.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to The Diamondback’s request for comment.

During his confirmation hearing on Jan. 29, Kennedy affirmed that he is not “anti-vaccine” and said vaccines “play a critical role in health care.” But experts say it is unclear what the impacts of his past statements will be.

Hamer said Kennedy’s past vaccine skepticism could lead others to question immunization safety, despite the strict regulations in place.

“It sort of introduces the notion that maybe we should be questioning them, when I think that the science is in fact, very, very clear,” Hamer said.

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Angela Orantes, the treasurer of this university’s American Medical Student Association chapter, said she is concerned that Kennedy’s rhetoric will increase misinformation and make people more hesitant to follow medical advice. His views on vaccines would lead to more confusion and decrease public trust in science, the senior public health science major added.

“I hope … that [Kennedy] listens to the health experts around him and maybe that helps him open his eyes a little bit more and understand that he’s actually putting the country at risk,” Orantes said.

Michel Boudreaux, an assistant health and policy management professor at this university, said that while it is unclear how Kennedy will manage vaccine policy, he has the authority to restructure committees that set guidelines and recommendations for vaccine schedules.

Kennedy may also be able to undermine the federal government’s vaccine compensation program, Boudreaux said.

The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program was founded in the 1980s after lawsuits against vaccine companies over side effects led the companies to stop producing vaccines, leading to severe shortages, according to the Health and Human Services website.

The program financially compensates people who are injured from vaccines, Boudreaux said, while protecting vaccine companies from lawsuits related to the injuries.

“[Kennedy] could change the way that system works and that might make vaccine makers less eager to participate in the market,” Boudreaux said.