Jan 24, 2025 · Experts saw Samoa's plunging vaccination rates as a crisis. RFK Jr. saw an opportunity. New details show how Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then chair of an anti-vaccine group and now Trump’s pick for ...

2 days ago · Kennedy's 2019 visit to Samoa has recently brought fresh attention to his history of activism focused on raising questions about the safety and effectiveness of the measles vaccine — because his ...

2 days ago · Among the exchanges, senators tied Kennedy's anti-vaccine commentary to the measles outbreak in Samoa six years ago, in which 83 people died.

The 2019 Samoa measles outbreak began in September 2019. [5] As of 6 January 2020, over 5,700 cases of measles and 83 deaths had been reported, out of a population of 200,874, [4][6] over three per cent. [7] The cause of the outbreak was decreased vaccination rates among newborns, from 74% in 2017 to 31–34% in 2018. Nearby islands had rates near 99%. A state of emergency was declared on 17 ...

3 days ago · Here’s why a 6-year-old deadly measles outbreak in Samoa came up in the RFK Jr. hearing Gov. Josh Green of Hawaii is in Washington this week, urging senators to oppose Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

During confirmation hearings in January 2025, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. falsely denied that a 2019 trip he took to Samoa had anything to do with vaccines. In 2019, Samoa experienced a measles outbreak ...

3 days ago · Vaccination skeptics often wrongly link childhood vaccines to autism, and after the incident Samoa’s prime minister, whose grandson happens to have autism, halted the island nation’s ...

Dec 2, 2019 · In July 2018, two infants died in Samoa after receiving vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella, raising local fears over the vaccine itself. But the deaths were later established to...

3 days ago · Vaccines 1. In 2019, Samoa experienced a devastating measles epidemic, resulting in nearly 2,000 hospitalizations and 83 deaths, mostly among children under age 4.

Nov 25, 2024 · Samoa’s vaccination rates had fallen to fewer than a third of eligible 1-year-olds. Vaccine skepticism has ballooned worldwide, and Mr. Kennedy and others who back him have encouraged it....