National Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Saturday instructed leaders of the nonprofit organization he founded to mimic the design of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention site, but to remove web pages that mimic cases where the vaccine causes autism.
The page was published on a site that is clearly registered in the Child Health Defense of the nonprofit Anti-Vaccination Group. Kennedy’s actions came after the New York Times asked about the page and then it bouncing off all over social media.
The page was taken offline on a Saturday night.
“Committee Kennedy has directed the Advisory Bureau to send formal demand to children’s health defenses requesting the removal of their website,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
“At HHS, we are dedicated to restoring the institutions to a tradition that supports science based on gold standard evidence,” the statement said.
It was not clear why the anti-vaccine group released a page mimicking the CDC. The organization did not respond to requests for comment, and Kennedy said it cut ties with the presidential election in 2023.
The fake vaccine safety page was virtually indistinguishable from what is available on CDC’s own site. The layout, typeface and logo were the same, and probably violated federal copyright laws.
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