FACT FOCUS: A look at false and misleading claims made by RFK Jr. during Senate hearing

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made myriad false and misleading claims on Thursday as he fielded questions examining his seven-month tenure leading the nation’s health agencies at a contentious three-hour hearing.

Kennedy ignored government data, twisted legislation and pointed to unsubstantiated treatments while addressing topics such as COVID-19 vaccines, rural hospitals and school shootings.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

COVID-19

KENNEDY, on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines: “The only confusion I expressed is exactly how many lives were saved. I don’t think anybody knows that.”

THE FACTS: Kennedy was answering a question from Sen. Maggie Hassan on whether COVID-19 vaccines have saved millions of American lives. Myriad studies on the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines have been published since they first became available in late 2020. Although protection does wane over time, they provide the strongest barrier against severe infection and death.

For example, a World Health Organization found COVID-19 vaccines reduced deaths in the WHO’s European region by at least 57%, saving more than 1.4 million lives since their introduction in December 2020.

A found that nearly 20 million lives were saved by COVID-19 vaccines during their first year. Researchers used data from 185 countries to estimate that vaccines prevented 4.2 million COVID-19 deaths in India, 1.9 million in the United States, 1 million in Brazil, 631,000 in France and 507,000 in the United Kingdom. The main finding — that 19.8 million COVID-19 deaths were prevented — is based on estimates of how many more deaths than usual occurred during the time period. Using only reported COVID-19 deaths, the same model yielded 14.4 million deaths averted by vaccines.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which Kennedy heads, shows that the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine was 33% effective against emergency department or urgent care visits for adults over 18, compared to those who didn’t receive the vaccine and 45%-46% effective against hospitalizations among immunocompetent adults 65 and over, compared with those not receiving a 2024–2025 vaccine dose.

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KENNEDY, on COVID-19 booster shots: “Anybody can get the booster.”

THE FACTS: The Food and Drug Administration has approved updated COVID-19 shots, but only for seniors or younger people with underlying health risks. Many pharmacies are unwilling or legally barred from giving vaccines outside the uses endorsed by the FDA and other federal authorities.

The question of who will be able to get a shot is complicated for many people. The answer may depend on your age, laws and policies in the state where you live, insurance coverage and finding a health care professional who will give you the shot.

Until now, the U.S. — following guidance from independent experts who advise the CDC — has recommended yearly COVID-19 vaccinations for everyone age 6 months and older. While opposed by many U.S. medical groups, the narrower criteria for seasonal shots mirrors many countries in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

Kennedy also acknowledged that access “depends on the state” and said that boosters are “not recommended for healthy people.”

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KENNEDY, on how many Americans have died from COVID-19: “I don’t think anybody knows that, because there was so much data chaos coming out of the CDC and there were so many perverse incentives.”

THE FACTS: This data is easily accessible. Approximately 1.2 million Americans have died from the virus, according to both the CDC, and the WHO.

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SSRIs and childhood vaccines

KENNEDY, in response to Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat from Minnesota, accusing him of blaming school shootings on antidepressants: “You’re just making stuff up.”

THE FACTS: Kennedy did not say outright in a Fox News interview last week that antidepressants are responsible for school shootings. But he did suggest that they could play a role, saying that the National Institutes of Health is “launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence.”

SSRIs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are medications commonly used to treat mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety.

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KENNEDY: “Today’s children have to get between 69 and 92 vaccines in order to be fully compliant, between maternity and 18 years. It’s 19 vaccines, 92 doses. Only one of those vaccines has been tested against a placebo.”

THE FACTS: The current childhood vaccination schedule recommends routine protection against 18 diseases. How many shots between birth and age 18 that entails can vary for many reasons. The list recommends a once-a-year flu vaccination, for example. Some on the list may not be recommended for every child, such as a preventive shot for RSV in young babies. Another variable depends on what type of vaccine is used against a particular disease, where one choice may require two doses and another three.

Decades of research before and after their approval has shown those on the market are safe and effective — including placebo-controlled studies. There is no evidence that the childhood vaccine schedule is harmful. It’s backed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and doctors say multiple vaccines are not a problem.

Rural hospitals

KENNEDY: “Trump has now allocated through the one big beautiful bill $50 billion, so $10 billion a year over the next five years. What we give to rural hospitals, that’s 6%, represents $19 billion a year. So we’re increasing that by $10 billion. So we’re infusing more than 50% increase in the amount of money that is going to rural communities over the next five years.”

THE FACTS: There’s more to the nearly 900-page bill than Kennedy claims. It’s true that Republicans established a new fund that will set aside $10 billion every year for rural hospitals, providers and clinics. But they did that to offset significant cuts that rural hospitals are expected to endure as a result of the legislation, which also slashes $1.2 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade, primarily from Medicaid.

Roughly 10 million people are expected to lose health insurance from the legislation. Most people will lose Medicaid.

That will leave many hospitals with patients who can’t afford to pay for emergency services. The changes are expected to hit rural areas, where as many as 1 in 4 Americans rely on Medicaid to pay for health insurance, particularly hard. Estimates have suggested that rural hospitals, in particular, could lose between $58 billion and $137 billion over the next decade because of the bill’s provisions.

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Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.