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Health leaders across the U.S. have expressed concern over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 30, where he was questioned by Maryland’s newly elected Democratic state senator, Angela Alsobrooks. During the hearing, Kennedy Jr. was asked to explain his past claims that Black people have stronger and “better” immune systems than white people, and therefore, should receive vaccines on a different schedule.
Health experts warn that Kennedy Jr.’s views on vaccination could have dangerous consequences, particularly for Black communities who are already under-vaccinated against viruses. This is especially concerning as he moves closer to potentially becoming the U.S. Secretary of Health.
Last month, Kennedy made the controversial claim that a “series of studies” in Poland showed Black people have a “much stronger reaction” to certain antigens, suggesting they should receive vaccines on a different schedule than white people. His statement left Maryland’s newly elected Democratic state senator, Angela Alsobrooks, baffled. She argued that his reasoning was “dangerous” and could discourage Black communities from receiving crucial vaccines that could save lives.
“Mr. Kennedy, with all due respect, that is so dangerous,” she told the 71-year-old politician firmly. “Your voice would be a voice that parents listen to, that is so dangerous. I will be voting against your nomination because your views are dangerous to our state and to our country.”
Health experts believe RFK’s statement may lead to more medical barriers and mistrust in the Black community.
Source: Jacob Wackerhausen / Getty
There are already significant gaps in vaccination rates among Black populations. The Office of Minority Health reported that during the 2023–2024 flu season, non-Hispanic Black or African American adults were 10% less likely to have received the flu vaccine compared to non-Hispanic white adults. Additionally, Black children born in 2020 were 10% less likely to be fully immunized by age 24 months compared to their white peers. Furthermore, in 2022, Black females aged 19-26 were 20% less likely to have received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine than their white counterparts in the same age group.
Given this data, Shannon Cavanagh, the department chair of sociology at the University of Texas, Austin, told The Guardian in a Feb. 5 article that ideas like Kennedy’s could be used to justify the neglect of underserved populations, particularly the Black community, who already face significant barriers to accessing quality healthcare due to factors such as medical bias and lack of resources. She pointed out that while myths about Black people having stronger immune systems or higher pain tolerance persist, the reality is that this demographic faces higher maternal mortality rates and a lower life expectancy compared to other groups.
“That’s the problem,” Cavanagh said. “These claims are made to seem positive, but they calcify the reality that there is disparate access to healthcare and that has real implications for health and wellbeing.”
Dr. Devlin Cole, a preventive medicine physician in Madison, Wisconsin, echoed a similar sentiment. “It instills distrust in communities that have already had reason to distrust the system.”
Kennedy’s vaccination statement stems from research conducted by a team at the Mayo Clinic, which examined racial differences in immune responses to vaccination. The study found that African Americans produced a stronger antibody response following the MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccine compared to white individuals.
However, the study’s lead author, Dr. Richard Kennedy, a vaccine researcher at the Mayo Clinic unrelated to the controversial politician, clarified in an interview with NPR that the data does not support altering vaccine schedules based on race. He acknowledged that while immune responses can vary by race, sex, and potentially many other factors, these differences do not justify race-based vaccine scheduling. Dr. Richard said RFK was “twisting the data far beyond what they actually demonstrate.” Dr. Carlos del Rio, a professor of medicine at Emory University, agreed, emphasizing that such a statement is “unsafe” particularly given the already lower vaccination rates among Black children.
Race-based treatment isn’t the way, health experts say.
Race-based treatment in healthcare can be harmful for several reasons. It often reinforces stereotypes by making generalizations about different racial groups, which oversimplifies individuals and ignores their unique experiences. This approach can also overlook important factors like genetics, environment, lifestyle, and socioeconomic status, which all play significant roles in health. Moreover, it can lead to discrimination, as assuming that all members of a particular race require the same treatment can result in unequal care, misdiagnosis, or denial of treatment.
“Spreading false rhetoric that Black people have stronger immune systems recalls this notion of a super-humanization bias, which claims that Black people’s bodies function and endure pain differently,” Zoé Samudzi, a visiting assistant professor at Clark University, told The Guardian. “Race-based medicine should not be the means of addressing the disparities in health outcomes that fall on the lines of race,” she added.
Alarmingly, Kennedy Jr. is one step closer to becoming the Secretary of Health and Human Services. On Feb. 4, the Senate Finance Committee voted 14-13, along party lines, to advance his nomination to the full Senate for consideration, according to NBC News.
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