The administration of US President Donald Trump is planning to issue an order on vaccines and autism, and it could happen as early as next week, the news agency Reuters writes.
An anonymous source informed that the efforts are driven by Trump’s own interest in further action on autism spectrum issues.
The Trump administration, led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has ordered new studies on the connection between vaccines and autism, despite the fact that studies conducted over the past two decades, involving millions of people, have not yet found a link between vaccinations and autism spectrum disorders.
White House spokesman Kush Desai noted that President Trump has made it clear that America needs the best childhood vaccination schedule in the world. The administration remains committed to delivering on the president’s priorities,
responding to countless parents whose questions about vaccines have been ignored or ridiculed.
Trump’s desire to issue the order has not waned even after his political advisers, concerned about harming Republicans, urged Kennedy to stay away from vaccine-related issues until at least the November midterm elections. Meanwhile, Trump has continued to privately pressure Kennedy, asking questions about how the vaccine issue is progressing and whether the health secretary will be able to prove a link to autism.
Last year, Trump linked vaccines to autism spectrum disorders and acetaminophen use during pregnancy, putting unfounded assumptions at the forefront of US health policy.
Kennedy is known as an anti-vaccine figure who has linked vaccines to autism and insisted that there are no safe vaccines. In March, Kennedy faced resistance when a court ruling halted his efforts to rewrite US vaccine policy.
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