STAT+: How RFK Jr. could revive a dormant task force to scrutinize vaccine safety

WASHINGTON — Almost 40 years ago, Congress created a task force to recommend ways to make childhood vaccines safer.

The group — made up of officials from key U.S. public health agencies — issued its final report in 1998, and has been defunct ever since.

In the years since, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s allies have zeroed in on the panel to misrepresent the steps the government has taken to ensure the safety of vaccines given to babies and kids. Now, as RFK Jr. prepares to take the top health role in the Trump administration, reviving the task force could be one way to quickly stand up a panel to scrutinize immunizations — and commitments made following his confirmation hearings indicate this may be part of his plan. 

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