In yet another move that underscores that the MAHA movement is more about politics than public health, RFK Jr. is now discouraging the use of hepatitis A vaccines, among others.
According to his own CDC:
Get vaccinated
Hepatitis A vaccine is the best way to prevent HAV infection.
Many people think hepatitis A is only connected to contaminated food and water. However, in the US, hepatitis A is more commonly spread from person to person. Since outbreak cases were first identified in 2016, 37 states have publicly reported 44,937 cases. More than half of the people who got sick were hospitalized.
| State | Case Total | Hospitalizations n (%) | Deaths | Outbreak Start Date | Data Current Through |
|---|
| Total | 44926 | 27457 (61%) | 424 | ||
| States with an ongoing outbreak(n=3) | |||||
| Indiana | 2670 | 1510 (57%) | 15 | 11/1/2017 | 11/30/2023 |
| Maryland | 449 | 317 (71%) | 11 | 12/1/2019 | 11/30/2023 |
| Pennsylvania | 1301 | 995 (76%) | 19 | 1/1/2018 | 11/25/2023 |
| States with a declared end to their outbreak (n=34) | |||||
| Alabama | 1681 | 1177 (70%) | 0 | 9/1/2018 | 8/31/2022 |
| Arizona | 598 | 484 (81%) | 8 | 11/1/2018 | 4/16/2020 |
| Arkansas | 1345 | 721 (54%) | 5 | 2/7/2018 | 1/11/2023 |
| California | 708 | 464 (66%) | 21 | 11/1/2016 | 4/11/2018 |
| Colorado | 418 | 296 (71%) | 2 | 10/1/2018 | 2/1/2021 |
| Delaware | 38 | 28 (74%) | 1 | 8/1/2019 | 7/27/2021 |
| Florida | 5103 | 3469 (68%) | 77 | 1/1/2018 | 8/31/2021 |
| Georgia | 2123 | 1367 (64%) | 8 | 6/1/2018 | 3/31/2023 |
| Idaho | 77 | 39 (51%) | 0 | 1/1/2019 | 11/1/2020 |
| Illinois | 276 | 182 (66%) | 1 | 9/1/2018 | 5/18/2022 |
| Kansas | 425 | 330 (78%) | 5 | 5/15/2020 | 12/28/2021 |
| Kentucky | 5094 | 2468 (48%) | 67 | 8/1/2017 | 12/31/2021 |
| Louisiana/a> | 1686 | 1004 (60%) | 7 | 1/1/2018 | 10/12/2022 |
| Maine | 289 | 128 (44%) | 0 | 4/1/2019 | 5/19/2023 |
| Massachusetts | 563 | 442 (79%) | 9 | 4/1/2018 | 5/29/2020 |
| Michigan | 920 | 732 (80%) | 30 | 8/1/2016 | 10/21/2022 |
| Minnesota | 128 | 89 (70%) | 1 | 12/16/2018 | 9/28/2021 |
| Mississippi | 843 | 474 (56%) | 3 | 4/1/2019 | 4/10/2023 |
| Missouri | 1129 | 660 (58%) | 5 | 9/1/2017 | 8/9/2023 |
| Nevada | 107 | 94 (88%) | 1 | 11/1/2018 | 6/18/2020 |
| New Hampshire | 339 | 210 (62%) | 3 | 11/1/2018 | 6/30/2020 |
| New Jersey | 892 | 486 (54%) | 13 | 12/1/2018 | 4/9/2022 |
| New Mexico | 168 | 127 (76%) | 2 | 11/8/2018 | 6/10/2020 |
| New York (excluding New York City) | 531 | 348 (66%) | 0 | 6/1/2019 | 9/1/2021 |
| North Carolina | 1194 | 744 (62%) | 16 | 1/1/2018 | 12/6/2022 |
| Ohio | 3770 | 2350 (62%) | 16 | 1/1/2018 | 7/31/2022 |
| South Carolina | 2239 | 1197 (53%) | 6 | 11/1/2018 | 4/30/2022 |
| Tennessee | 3149 | 1924 (61%) | 28 | 12/1/2017 | 8/8/2022 |
| Texas | 350 | 295 (84%) | 2 | 1/1/2020 | 9/2/2022 |
| Utah | 281 | 152 (54%) | 3 | 5/8/2017 | 2/12/2019 |
| Vermont | 47 | 26 (55%) | 0 | 1/1/2019 | 7/9/2022 |
| Virginia | 798 | 488 (61%) | 7 | 1/1/2019 | 2/7/2023 |
| Washington | 465 | 263 (57%) | 9 | 4/1/2019 | 9/30/2021 |
| West Virginia | 2732 | 1377 (50%) | 23 | 3/19/2018 | 8/24/2020 |