RFK Jr. would also have the power, along with the FDA commissioner, to slow down or hamper the process by which new vaccines are evaluated, approved, and recommended. That could discourage pharmaceutical companies from developing new or reformulated vaccines.

In one of his most controversial Cabinet picks, President-elect Donald Trump said he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Here, we summarize our past work fact-checking Kennedy's claims about health and science.

RFK is seen as a controversial choice for Health Secretary, not least because he’s a vaccine sceptic who has also rallied against big pharmaceutical companies, but also because of his attitude to big pharma and medical research.