Vaccine Makers See Stocks Fall After RFK Jr. Announcement
Vaccine makers saw stocks fall Friday after President-elect Donald Trump announced that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , a vaccine skeptic, was his choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Kennedy Jr. has advocated against processed foods and the use of herbicides. He has long criticized large commercial farms and animal-feeding operations. But his stance on childhood vaccines is perhaps most notable. He has said that he believes in the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism and said in a July podcast interview, "There's no vaccine that is safe and effective." However, he has said that he is not anti-vaccine.
On Friday morning, hours after Trump chose Kennedy Jr. as his pick for HHS secretary, Pfizer 's stock dropped 4.3 percent while Moderna's fell 3.1 percent and Novavax saw a 2.8 percent dip in its stock.
Stock Market Takes a Hit
The overall performance of the stock market Friday morning has been poor with the three major stock market indexes, which measure how stocks perform, down.
The S&P 500 was 0.7 percent lower while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 141 points (or 0.3 percent) and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2 percent lower.
Trump Taps RFK Jr. for Health Secretary
On Thursday night, Trump announced that Kennedy Jr. as his choice to leadAmerica's public health agencies under his second administration.
Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer turned politician, started out as Trump's rival in the 2024 election as an independent candidate for president. He dropped out of the race in August after not seeing a "realistic path" to victory and endorsed Trump, who went on to beat Vice President Kamala Harris in last week's election.
Trump said in his Thursday announcement: "For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health," Trump said in a statement announcing his pick of Kennedy Jr.
"The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country," Trump said. "Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!"
Medical Community Reacts to Trump's Pick
Trump's decision to make Kennedy Jr. HHS secretary left medical professionals aghast that a man who has previously been accused of amplifying conspiracy theories—most notably about the COVID vaccine—could potentially be in charge of the health of 350 million Americans.
Dr. Ashish Jha, a former Biden administration COVID-19 coordinator and the dean of Brown University's School of Public Health, told CNN 's Wolf Blitzer, "I think this is an extraordinarily bad choice."
Meanwhile, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a brain surgeon who is CNN's chief medical correspondent, told Blitzer that "there's a lot of concern" among the medical professionals about Kennedy Jr. taking a larger role in the Trump administration but that "the medical community is not monolithic."
Dr. Mehmet Oz, a TV personality who unsuccessfully ran for Pennsylvania senator in 2022 with Trump's endorsement, praised Kennedy's nomination in an interview with Fox News , saying, "Trump has done well by selecting RFK Jr. because he's got the attention of the public. These issues are not new issues."
"I believe that the 86,000 workers at HHS...I believe most of them will welcome RFK because they are getting smothered under corporate capture," Oz said. "These agencies aren't actually free to do what they want to do frequently."
This includes reporting from The Associated Press.
