Vaccine Injuries, Violent Video Games, and Infertility Challenge: RFK Jr. Releases New MAHA ‘Strategy’ Report for Children

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released a new “strategy” report from the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, outlining how the Trump administration wants to improve the health of American children. Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist who doesn’t believe in germ theory, has been destroying faith in America’s public health system since he was confirmed as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Unlike MAHA’s first report back in May, the new report doesn’t include any fake studies that are cited. But that’s because the new report released Tuesday doesn’t cite any studies at all. Kennedy has completely hollowed out expertise at agencies like the FDA and CDC, which he oversees, through recent actions like firing CDC Director Susan Monarez, leading to a massive exodus of people who believe in science.

The new strategy report identifies four areas the MAHA commission believes are “behind the rise in childhood chronic disease,” including poor diet, chemical exposure, overmedication, and a lack of physical exercise combined with chronic stress. The report calls for further research into childhood vaccines, fluoride, and physical activity, among other topics.

As with all things MAHA, there is a mix of very real concerns about the health of Americans, combined with fringe ideas about what to do about it. There’s a particular emphasis in the report on “conflicts of interest,” a worthwhile topic of discussion when it comes to the revolving door of government regulators and drug companies. But Kennedy’s solution to potential conflicts of interest has been to fire real experts on things like vaccines in order to replace them with charlatans who are selling their own questionable alternative therapies.

The future of vaccines

The new report calls for developing a framework on vaccines that’s filled with all kinds of red flags for anyone who can read between the lines. The report says the framework will focus on:

• Ensuring America has the best childhood vaccine schedule;
• Addressing vaccine injuries;
• Modernizing American vaccines with transparent, gold-standard science;
• Correcting conflicts of interest and misaligned incentives; and
• Ensuring scientific and medical freedom.

“Over 99% of vaccine injuries go unreported,” Kennedy said at a press conference on Tuesday without providing any evidence for his claim.

The government announced changes to covid-19 vaccine recommendations on Aug. 27 that will restrict who’s able to get the shot. The CDC only recommends the shot for people aged 65 and older, as well as those at higher risk of complications from getting covid-19. And we’re already seeing various states restricting who can get the shot.

Guns, screen time, social media, and video games

During the press conference, Kennedy was asked about guns and the public health issues they pose. He claimed there was a “sudden onset of violence” in the 1990s that he didn’t see as a kid—the kind of nostalgia he often engages in when it comes to food quality and various conditions like autism.

“It could be a connection with video games, social media, and we are looking at that,” Kennedy said, also stating that he was looking at “overmedication of kids” as another cause of mass shootings.

The report also mentions that the Surgeon General will launch an educational campaign about the effect of screen time on children and “actions being taken by states to limit screentime at school.” The U.S. doesn’t have a Senate-confirmed Surgeon General right now. President Trump withdrew his nominee for the position, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, in May over questions about her credentials. And then he nominated Casey Means, a wellness influencer who hasn’t yet faced hearings from the Senate for her confirmation.

Means doesn’t currently have a medical license and started a company called Levels that sells a wearable for monitoring glucose levels. There’s no reason for someone who isn’t diabetic to be monitoring their glucose levels, but Kennedy has previously said that he wants all Americans to be sporting a wearable.

Sperm counts

The report also includes a section on fertility, with Secretary Kennedy claiming early in the press conference on Tuesday that, “Our young men have sperm counts half what they ought to be.”

From the report:

HHS will launch a MAHA education campaign to improve health and fertility in women and men looking to start a family. This will influence adolescent health through early adoption of lifestyles that help avoid the development of root cause issues that impact adult fertility in the 20s, 30s, and 40s.

• The HHS Root Causes of Infertility Award Challenge Competition, a national call to action to address the root causes of infertility and improve maternal and infant health outcomes. This initiative seeks to identify new and existing solutions to prevent, diagnose, and treat root causes of infertility, including chronic reproductive health conditions, and provide answers to families, improve health outcomes, and ensure a brighter future for parents and infants across the U.S.

• HHS will develop a partnership to create an Infertility Training Center to serve and train Title X clinics to identify, treat, and refer for the underlying causes of infertility, such as chronic reproductive health conditions.

It’s unclear what the “Root Causes of Infertility Award Challenge Competition” will entail exactly, but given the far right’s obsession with birth rates among white people right now, it’s sure to be something dystopian.

Criticism from allies over the report

Some of Kennedy’s traditional left-leaning allies are not happy with the new MAHA strategy report, which had leaked in a rough form last month before its final release. Critics believe the health industry had too much influence on its strategy conclusions, and Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit that sued the EPA over the fluoridation of water, released a statement Tuesday that was highly critical of Kennedy’s plan.

“The MAHA Commission report is a gift to Big Ag. Its deregulatory proposals read like an industry wish list. The truth is, industrial agriculture is making us sick. Making America healthy again will require confronting Big Ag corporations head on — instead, the Trump administration has capitulated,” Food & Water Watch senior food policy analyst Rebecca Wolf said in a statement.

The report doesn’t call for a ban on various pesticides, instead saying it will launch a “partnership with private-sector innovators to ensure continued investment in new approaches and technologies to allow even more targeted and precise pesticide applications.” And that also seemed to anger some activists who believe Kennedy is just bowing down to powerful corporate interests.

“The MAHA Commission report is most notable for what it lacks: any real action on toxic pesticides linked to rising cancer rates nationwide. Meanwhile, Trump’s allies in Congress are considering dangerous legislation to make it all worse. The White House’s feigned concern for our health is too little, too late — its weak response to the public health crisis we face will not stand,” wrote Food & Water Watch.

Where do we go from here?

What’s next for the MAHA gang? Kennedy has promised to announce the “cause” of autism at some point this month. And whatever report they produce will more than likely be tainted by Kennedy’s army of anti-vaccine advocates and MAHA kooks. But amidst it all, Kennedy still continues to insist he’s not against vaccines, even while he gets in front of Congress and insists vaccines haven’t been properly studied, a ridiculous lie.

It’s only going to get weirder from here on out.