US health officials urge Kennedy to stop spreading vaccine misinformation

Hundreds of current and former employees of US health agencies on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump's health secretary of putting them at risk by spreading false information.

In an open letter, the federal officials criticized Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -- a noted vaccine skeptic -- nearly two weeks after an armed attack on the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main US health agency.

A gunman who blamed the Covid-19 vaccine for sickening him targeted several buildings at the Atlanta-based CDC on August 8, killing a police officer.

The attack "was not random," the signees of the open letter said, pointing to "growing mistrust in public institutions, driven by politicized rhetoric that has turned public health professionals from trusted experts into targets of villainization -- and now, violence."

Kennedy, who has repeatedly aired false information about vaccines and slammed the agencies he heads as corrupt, was accused of fueling the mistrust.

Kennedy "is complicit in dismantling America's public health infrastructure and endangering the nation's health by repeatedly spreading inaccurate health information," the open letter said, imploring the health chief to change his stance.

Since taking office, the nephew of assassinated president John F. Kennedy has made numerous pronouncements that run counter to scientific consensus, particularly about vaccines.

This shift toward vaccine skepticism has been denounced by many experts. A petition calling on Congress to impeach Kennedy had gathered more than 12,600 signatures as of Wednesday.

The latest open letter from US civil servants, many of whom signed anonymously, comes on the heels of other similar texts backed by federal employees denouncing actions of the Trump administration.

Taking such a step was not without risk: nearly 140 staffers at the Environmental Protection Agency who spoke out publicly were placed on leave in last month.