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But Mr. Kennedy also made it clear how he has done in the past that he believes that it is due to individuals. When he suggests that vaccines are unsure, he contradicted decades of advice from experts in public health, including the leaders of the centers for the control and prevention of diseases.

“I would say that we live in a democracy and part of the responsibility to be parents, to carry out her own research,” said the health secretary in response to a question of a woman in the audience who asked how he would advise a new parent about the security of the vaccine. “You research the stroller, research the food you get and you have to research the medication you take.”

During the Coronavirus pandemic, the expression “I did my own research” became a cultural and political touchstone, as supporters of vaccination, mainly on the political left, used to disparage those who had decided not to be vaccinated. It became an internet meme and appeared on false grave stones in cemeteries with Halloween topics in liberal districts.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

Mr. Kennedy's comments came to the United States in the middle of the greatest measles outbreak for about 25 years, including two small children and an adult.

Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and vaccine expert at the children's hospital in Philadelphia, who often contradicted Mr. Kennedy, said that it was “completely reasonable to be skeptical of vaccines, but parents who wanted to carry out their own research must be careful.

“What your own research should do is that you should speak with specialist knowledge in this field or at least look at what does not mean to look at chat rooms or only in social media blog posts,” said Dr. Offit. He added that good information is available, “there are also many really bad sources of information that you abuse you about your choice. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a perfect example of this.”

Another vaccine expert, Dr. Peter Hodez from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said Mr. Kennedy was insincere. “He says that – your own research – is sufficient that a parent is now downloading a rush of disinformation – much of it from health and well -being, the nutritional supplement -Influencer industry that tries to step alternatives.”

Mr. Kennedy also suggested without evidence that measles shots cause a variety of diseases. “Does it stop measles?” he asked. “Yes, but does something else, it causes seizures or cause neurological or autoimmune diseases? We don't know. Nobody can answer this question.”

In fact, studies have shown that people who are vaccinated are less likely than those who have suffered infections on the development of autoimmune diseases, which caused researchers to conclude that vaccines “not only have the potential to protect the patient from infectious diseases, but also from his complications, including autoimmune symptoms”.

Mr. Kennedy's other statements were also full of inaccuracies. “New drugs are approved by external panels, not by the FDA or the CDC,” he said.

This is wrong. Experts outside of experts advise the FDA on controversy or top -class decisions on the approval of drugs, and some members of the committee have connections to industry that are publicly disclosed before the sessions begin. The FDA alone has the authority to approve or reject new medication, vaccines and other therapies. The CDC plays no role in the approval of pharmaceuticals.

“Mr. Kennedy needs a lettering on drug development and FDA decisions about marketing,” said Dr. Robert Califf, the commissioner of the agency under President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Mr. Kennedy also insisted that vaccines are not evaluated for security before or after their license. “There are no security studies at the beginning, after that there is no surveillance system,” he said, adding: “Vaccines are the only medical or medical device that is freed from the pre-licensing test.”

In fact, the Food and Drug Administration licenses vaccines after a year -long process that begins with extensive tests in the laboratory and in animals and progresses in humans. The FDA requires careful studies on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, often with thousands of people in great attempts, said Dr. Peter Marks, the head of the agency, who recently had to resign from his position.

“I don't know where this misunderstanding comes from,” said Dr. Marks, who was critical of Mr. Kennedy. “Vaccines have to be examined extensively from security. By definition, we give these products healthy people. So security is of the utmost importance.”

After licensing the vaccines, you will be monitored by an alphabet soup with databases. The link system for vaccine protection data has rely on electronic health files from medical centers across the country. It was responsible to recognize unusual side effects, including rare cases of myocarditis or inflammation of the heart muscle, in young men who took covid 19 vaccines.

Another system that developed the vaccine -adverse event in 1990 as a “national early warning system” reports on reports from patients and providers. Although many vaccine critics, including Mr. Kennedy, Vaers data to argue that vaccines are dangerous, the system was not designed in such a way as to whether vaccines cause health problems. It was developed to record information that can be further examined in other types of data systems.

The FDA has an additional security monitoring program called Best or the initiative for the effectiveness and security of biologics.

Dr. Sean O'Leary, Chairman of the Committee on Infectious Diseases for the American Academy of Pediatrics, said it was wrong to say that federal officials would not have kept an eye on the security of the vaccine. “I don't know where it comes from,” he said, “because nothing of it is true.”

He added: “We are aware of many rarer undesirable events. If it becomes clear that the risks are even shortly before the advantages are predominantly, the vaccine is pulled off the market.”