FILE PHOTO: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. President Trump’s nominee to be secretary of Well being and Human Providers, testifies earlier than a Senate Well being, Schooling, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee affirmation listening to on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
Shares of vaccine corporations fell on Tuesday after a Senate panel voted to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to guide the Division of Well being and Human Providers to the total chamber.
The committee voted 14 to 13 to advance Kennedy in a party-line vote round 10:30 a.m. ET.
Moderna‘s inventory fell about 2% and shares of BioNTech dropped almost 2%. Shares of Novavax fell greater than 2%, whereas GSK‘s inventory dropped barely. Pfizer‘s inventory fell greater than 1%, even after the corporate reported fourth-quarter outcomes that topped expectations. Their shares initially fell by bigger margins following the Senate committee vote, then regained some floor.
Kennedy, 71, is a infamous vaccine skeptic, making false claims that they’re linked to autism regardless of a long time of research that debunk that affiliation. However Kennedy, throughout Senate affirmation hearings final week, contended that he’s not “anti-vaccine.”
Kennedy can also be the founding father of the nonprofit Kids’s Well being Protection, probably the most well-funded anti-vaccine group within the U.S. In a authorities ethics settlement final month, he mentioned he stopped serving as chairman or chief authorized counsel for the group as of December.
If confirmed by the Senate, Kennedy would oversee federal well being companies that regulate vaccines and different medicine. Some well being coverage consultants have raised issues about Kennedy utilizing his new potential platform to unfold anti-vaccine rhetoric and deter Individuals from receiving really useful photographs at a time when vaccination charges are already falling, particularly amongst kids.
Throughout an trade convention in January, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla mentioned Kennedy’s anti-vaccine rhetoric is in “full contradiction” with what the corporate, regulators and the medical and scientific neighborhood consider.