Plummeting trust in vaccines could be lethal on its own. But there are also ways Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services could reduce vaccine availability, as well.

He is the most influential anti-vaxxer in the world, one of the “Disinformation Dozen.” He is an AIDS denier who has revived old conspiracy theories about HIV. He claims that Covid was “ethnically targeted” to spare certain groups of people and that Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates are part of a “vaccine cartel” that produces fake studies in order to impose global lockdowns and 5G. And now, he is Trump’s pick to lead Health and Human Services, overseeing health agencies that cover food and drug regulation, infectious and chronic disease prevention, health research, Medicare and Medicaid, and more.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promised to empty entire departments and change the focus of public health to his pet projects—banning everything from Cheez-Its and mayonnaise to water fluoridation and children’s sunscreen while promoting raw milk, ivermectin, and supplements. But his biggest legacy has been seeding mistrust and fear about vaccines among the American public. As recently as last summer, he’s said vaccines cause autism, a lie that was thoroughly debunked decades ago, and he’s said the Covid vaccine is the “deadliest vaccine ever made” based on, apparently, mortality data from Covid itself. As the nation’s top health official, Kennedy could vastly reduce vaccination rates in this country—and even reduce the availability of the vaccines themselves. Read more at The New Republic.