The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intends to fund a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute study examining links between vaccines and autism — a widely debunked theory that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said deserves further investigation.
The theory that immunizations may cause autism is a cornerstone of the anti-vaccine movement, which has been gaining in prominence since the Covid-19 pandemic and has been championed by Kennedy. The health secretary has refused to denounce the possibility that vaccines could cause autism, even in direct questioning by senators last week.