A fake web page designed to look like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) vaccine safety site has been taken down on orders from health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The site was linked to Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit Kennedy founded.
The page copied the CDC’s logo, layout and design, but promoted false information suggesting that vaccines may cause autism. That idea has been widely debunked by scientists.
After The New York Times asked about the page and news about it spread online, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) responded.
“Secretary Kennedy has instructed the Office of the General Counsel to send a formal demand to Children’s Health Defense requesting the removal of their website,” the HHS said in a statement.
“At HHS we are dedicated to restoring our agencies to their tradition of upholding gold-standard, evidence-based science,” the statement said.
It’s unclear why the nonprofit published the copycat page. Kennedy has said he cut ties with the group when he launched his presidential campaign in 2023.
The group did not reply to The Times' requests for comment.
The page closely resembled the real CDC site and included references to studies that have been criticized for poor quality, as well as videos from parents who believe vaccines harmed their children.
One video was titled “Mother of 3: I Will Never Vaccinate Again."
“It’s a mixture of things that are legitimately peer-reviewed and things that are bogus,” Dr. Bruce Gellin, HHS vaccine director during the Bush and Obama administrations, told The Times.
Kennedy has long claimed that vaccines are linked to autism, repeating this view during his Senate confirmation hearings, despite many studies proving otherwise.
Under his leadership, the CDC recently said it would re-examine the evidence on this issue.
Children’s Health Defense has also challenged the cause of a recent measles death in Texas. A 6-year-old unvaccinated girl was reported by state health officials to have died from measles.
The group claimed hospital records suggested otherwise. In response, the hospital involved said the online video "contains misleading and inaccurate claims,” The Times reported.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on common side effects, vaccine information statements and more.
SOURCE: The New York Times, March 22, 2025
