In a 58-second video posted on the social media site X, Kennedy said he removed COVID-19 shots from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for those groups. No one from the CDC was in the video, and CDC officials referred questions about the announcement to Kennedy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
U.S. health officials, following recommendations by infectious disease experts, have been urging annual COVID-19 boosters for all Americans ages 6 months and older.
A CDC advisory panel is set to meets in June to make recommendations about the fall shots. Among its options are suggesting shots for high-risk groups but still giving lower-risk people the choice to get vaccinated.
That could be advantageous, but not really necessary for an administrator position.
It wouldn’t be so bad if he was relying on experts for his information. But he’s balls deep in conspiracy theories, spreads disinformation, and seems to be completely unqualified to speak on any matters of public health.
He’s causing more harm than good, and his duty is supposed to be to benefit public health!
They need to understand the materials they are provided.
It is necessary. Calling the head of HHS just an administrative position is part of the problem here.
Depends what materials they are provided.
In terms of technical understanding the administor should just see
“My expert in X recommends A, B or C”
“My expert in Y recommends D, E or F”
“I have resources Z”
“I choose B and D”
They don’t necessarily need to know anything about X or Y. In fact it would be preferable if they didn’t have any half baked ideas about X or Y formed from conspiracy theories.
They need to understand the implications of what each expert is recommending.
They absolutely need to be capable of understanding the materials.
Edit: Missing letters, thanks android keyboard
Maybe an example will help illustrate my point. Leslie Groves was the administrator of the Manhattan Project without needing to know any science.
I dont think I’d put a man with decades of corps of engineering experience in the category of being without any knowledge or understanding. He had a pretty significant hand in the Manhattan project because of his experience (including the creation of the pentagon), and specifically contributed to the Manhattan project in terms of raw materials, site selection, even making selections on isotope separation based on his prior experience and the requirements around it.
I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit. He is precisely the kind of person who understood the implications of different resources being used, how different methods would impact progress, etc.
He’s a great example of understanding the issues around the decisions being made, not just making a selection from a menu of options.
Thats the knowledge being discussed. Calling it “just administrative” is ignoring huge amounts of what Groves had in-depth knowledge of.