California public health experts react to RFK Jr.'s health secretary nomination

OAKLAND, Calif. - President-elect Donald Trump continued the work of building out his cabinet on Thursday. Trump announced his decision to nominate Robert F Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services Secretary.

The attorney and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, has promised to work to get rid of unhealthy processed foods, chemicals and target corruption in the pharmaceutical industry. 

"Why, here in the United States, are we seeing such rates of obesity? When you look at video of people from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s it’s a major shift, so I think it’s good. It’s important, it’s actually healthy to look at and see if we can find trends and patterns," said Dr. Vanila Singh of Stanford Medicine and a former chief medical officer at the Department of Health and Human Services under the Trump administration.  

But Kennedy’s critics continue to raise concerns about his long-held position as a vaccine skeptic and fringe ideas like removing fluoride from water. Last year, he falsely claimed that the Covid-19 virus was engineered to quote "Attack Caucasians and Black people." 

Kennedy continues to reject the claim that he's anti-vaccine. 

Thursday, Dr. Mandy Cohen, Director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention told the Associated Press, "I don’t want to go backwards and see children or adults suffer or lose their lives to remind us that vaccines work, and so I am concerned."

In California, State Attorney General Rob Bonta took to X in response to the pick, posting "The appointment of anti-vaccine, anti-science, and pro-conspiracy RFK Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services is on brand and both dangerous and irresponsible."

Still, a number of health experts say they are convinced that Kennedy could bring more transparency to the HHS.

"Vaccines have without a doubt been one of the greatest health achievements over the last 100 years…has contributed decades to life expectancy," said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, USC Keck School of Medicine. "That said, I know people are concerned about the safety of vaccines. People are concerned about the way that the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] and doctors convey information about vaccines, so I think we really need to do a better job of explaining to people what the benefits of the vaccines are and what the risks are. So I’m hoping Kennedy can bring some light in that area."