FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jack Cardinal, jcardinal@communitycatalyst.org 

Conspiracy Theorist Will Set Back Public Health Efforts And Endanger Communities

Following the Senate Finance Committee vote on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mona Shah, Senior Director of Policy and Strategy at Community Catalyst, released the following statement:

“Let’s be clear, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is wholly unqualified and a dangerous nominee who is a direct threat to the public health system in this country. 

“His conspiracy theories around vaccines would set back public health and evidence-based science in this country and have an outsized impact on systemically excluded communities. The full Senate should reject this nomination. 

“As an organization that has worked for years to increase COVID-19 and influenza vaccine uptake, alongside community leaders and organizations, it is hard to overstate how dangerous his lies are about their harm. Turning his conspiracy theories into policies, which he has promised to do, will hurt communities, endanger children and make us sicker as a nation. 

“We should strengthen our public health system, making health care more affordable and accessible and continue to invest in preventive care and evidence-based research. That task will be significantly harder with RFK Jr leading health care policy for the country. 

“Congress is an equal branch of government. And we have checks and balances for a reason. Now is the time for the Senate to stand up for public health, fight disinformation, reject conspiracy theories and vote against this nomination.”

Learn more about Community Catalyst’s work to advance Community-First Public Health priorities, as well as vaccine equity. Our community report on Long-COVID can be found here. 

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About Community Catalyst:   

Community Catalyst is a national organization dedicated to building the power of people to create a health system rooted in race equity and health justice, and a society where health is a right for all. We’re an experienced, trusted partner to organizations across the country, a change agent to policymakers at the local, state, and national level, and both an adversary and a collaborator to health systems in our efforts to advance health justice. We partner with local, state and national organizations and leaders to leverage and build power so that people are at the center of important decisions about health and health care, whether they are made by health care executives, in state houses, or on Capitol Hill. Together with partners, we’re building a powerful, united movement with a shared vision of and strategy for a health system accountable to all people. Learn more at www.communitycatalyst.org.