RFK Jr. has public health leaders quietly hopeful — and scared as hell

There’s a dilemma facing the public health establishment: It sees Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s focus on root causes of chronic disease as long overdue — and key to reversing America’s place as the world’s least healthy wealthy country.

But they fear Kennedy, who is making the case to senators this week that they should confirm him as President-elect Donald Trump’s health secretary, could also cause an explosion in infectious disease — the kind vaccines protect against.

Nearly a dozen researchers and public health officials who spoke with POLITICO see in Kennedy a chance to improve Americans’ poor diet and exercise habits and reduce their exposure to harmful chemicals. But they also see a purveyor of dangerous misinformation about vaccinations who could do irreparable harm to the public’s health. They’re coming to different conclusions about whether they should seek to direct Kennedy’s energies or oppose him entirely.