Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to abandon its long-held position that vaccines do not cause autism.
In an interview with The New York Times, Kennedy acknowledged that major epidemiological studies have found no link between autism and the MMR vaccine or the once-used preservative thimerosal.
However, Kennedy claimed gaps remain in research on other vaccines given to infants, such as hepatitis B and the DTaP shot, and argued that the blanket statement "vaccines do not cause autism" is "not supported by science."
Kennedy insisted he is not saying vaccines cause autism, only that no one has "proven they don't."
He went further, calling past CDC messaging a "lie" told to parents to reassure them, and asserted the agency has failed to meet its obligation to post "the best, highest quality data."
The move is highly unusual. Former CDC officials told the Times that scientific guidance is typically developed internally by agency experts, not dictated by a political appointee.
Kennedy has long been a leading figure in vaccine skepticism, a movement he previously used to raise millions of dollars and build a national following.
Critics say he is now using the full power of the Department of Health and Human Services to amplify doubts that could undermine routine childhood immunization, one of the most important public health achievements in modern history.
The CDC quietly altered its autism page this week to declare, "The claim 'vaccines do not cause autism' is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism."
The header stating that vaccines do not cause autism remains only because Kennedy signed a confirmation pledge to Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, the doctor who chairs the Senate health committee. An asterisk now links to the new footnote that reframes the guidance.
Global health authorities immediately pushed back.
The World Health Organization reiterated that "a robust, extensive evidence base" shows vaccines are safe and do not cause autism, citing decades of high-quality international studies.
Former CDC officials were even more blunt. Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who ran the agency's immunization division until August, called the revision a "public health emergency," warning that the CDC's scientific voice is being “weaponized."
Current and former public-health leaders warned that the change could accelerate falling childhood vaccination rates, opening the door to renewed outbreaks of measles, polio, and whooping cough, diseases that once killed thousands of Americans annually.
Cassidy blasted the revision as "wrong, irresponsible, and actively making Americans sicker."
The American Medical Association said Kennedy's claims "will lead to further confusion, distrust, and dangerous consequences."
Scientists across institutions noted that more than 40 major studies conducted since 1998 — tracking millions of children across multiple countries — have all reached the same conclusion: there is no link between vaccines and autism.
Kennedy defended his intervention, saying his responsibility is to be "honest" about scientific gaps, not reassure parents. He said he is open to testifying before Cassidy's committee.
Meanwhile, pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine groups alike say the CDC's shift marks the biggest reversal in U.S. vaccine messaging in decades, and potentially the most consequential.
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