Robert Kennedy Jr. sat down exclusively with CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook for his first network TV interview since becoming Health and Human Services secretary. You can watch LaPook’s interview with Kennedy on “CBS Mornings” and the “CBS Evening News” on Wednesday, April 9.
Health and Human Services Secreaty Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told CBS News he encourages people to get vaccinated against measles as an outbreak primarily in West Texas has killed two children and infected more than 500 people in the area.
“We encourage people to get the measles vaccine,” Kennedy told CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook on Tuesday during his Make America Healthy Again tour in Arizona, marking the first time Kennedy has publicly urged people to get the measles vaccine since becoming HHS secretary.
Asked by LaPook what the federal government’s official position on the vaccine is, Kennedy reiterated, “The federal government’s position, my position, is that people should get the measles vaccine,” but added, “The government should not be mandating those.”
Kennedy had previously acknowledged the vaccine’s efficacy in an opinion piece published by Fox News in March, in which he wrote that he was “deeply concerned about the recent measles outbreak” and said, “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.”
And on social media last weekend, Kennedy wrote, “The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.” But he stopped short of recommending people actually get the vaccine in both instances.
Prior to that piece, Kennedy had downplayed the growing number of cases and made several false and misleading claims about the safety of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Kennedy, referring to the ongoing outbreak, had at one point called it “not unusual.” However, with more than 600 cases nationwide just four months into 2025, the U.S. has seen the most measles infections in a single year since a 2019 outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Measles is highly contagious and can cause severe infections in the lungs and brain that can lead to cognitive issues, deafness or death. But doctors and health officials say the MMR vaccine is extremely safe and effective.
Most people who develop measles will see their symptoms improve, but about 1 in 5 unvaccinated people will be hospitalized. About 1 out of every 1,000 children with measles will develop brain swelling that can lead to brain damage, and up to 3 of every 1,000 children who become infected will die, the CDC says.
Both of the children who died in this year’s outbreak were unvaccinated, and health officials have said the overwhelming majority of people infected in West Texas are either unvaccinated or have unknown vaccination status.
Kennedy has insisted he is not anti-vaccine and says his views have been mischaracterized.
“I always said during my campaign and every part, every public statement I’ve made, ‘I’m not gonna take people’s vaccines away from them,'” Kennedy told LaPook. “What I’m gonna do is make sure that we have good science so that people can make an informed choice.”
Taylor Johnston and
contributed to this report.
