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C.D.C. Changes Website to Reflect Kennedy’s Vaccine Skepticism
A previous version denied a link between vaccines and autism. It now echoes the doubts about that conclusion voiced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The current C.D.C. webpage states: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.” Melissa Golden for The New York Times
By John Yoon
https://www.nytimes.com/by/john-yoon
Nov. 20, 2025
Updated 8:05 a.m. ET
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website that previously said that vaccines do not cause autism walked back that statement, contradicting the agency’s previous efforts to fight misinformation about a connection between the two.
The agency’s webpage on vaccines and autism, updated on Wednesday, now repeats the skepticism that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has voiced about the safety of vaccines, though dozens of scientific studies have failed to find evidence of a link.
A previous version of the webpage said that studies had shown “no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder.” It cited a 2012 National Academy of Medicine review of scientific papers and a C.D.C. study from 2013. ... On Thursday, the live version of the page stated: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”
The updated text also claimed that the health authorities have “ignored” studies supporting a link and said that the Department of Health and Human Services was conducting a “comprehensive assessment” of the causes of autism. ... Studies over the past three decades consistently have not found any connection between vaccines and autism, including one from 2019 in Denmark that examined the country’s entire child population over a decade.
{snip}
Apoorva Mandavilli contributed reporting.
John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/john-yoon
A previous version denied a link between vaccines and autism. It now echoes the doubts about that conclusion voiced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The current C.D.C. webpage states: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.” Melissa Golden for The New York Times
By John Yoon
https://www.nytimes.com/by/john-yoon
Nov. 20, 2025
Updated 8:05 a.m. ET
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website that previously said that vaccines do not cause autism walked back that statement, contradicting the agency’s previous efforts to fight misinformation about a connection between the two.
The agency’s webpage on vaccines and autism, updated on Wednesday, now repeats the skepticism that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has voiced about the safety of vaccines, though dozens of scientific studies have failed to find evidence of a link.
A previous version of the webpage said that studies had shown “no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder.” It cited a 2012 National Academy of Medicine review of scientific papers and a C.D.C. study from 2013. ... On Thursday, the live version of the page stated: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”
The updated text also claimed that the health authorities have “ignored” studies supporting a link and said that the Department of Health and Human Services was conducting a “comprehensive assessment” of the causes of autism. ... Studies over the past three decades consistently have not found any connection between vaccines and autism, including one from 2019 in Denmark that examined the country’s entire child population over a decade.
{snip}
Apoorva Mandavilli contributed reporting.
John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/john-yoon
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