The writer is a science commentator
If I owned a string of pearls, I would be clutching them at the prospect of Robert F Kennedy Jr taking the top health job in a Trump cabinet. Kennedy has, over many years, voiced an assortment of unorthodox or conspiracist beliefs: that vaccines are linked to autism; that the Covid-19 virus was engineered to target some ethnicities more than others; and that US government agencies suppress treatments that cannot be patented.
The nomination as head of the Department of Health and Human Services is a transactional thank you to Kennedy from Donald Trump for giving up his rival presidential bid, though the Senate will need to confirm the pick. Public health officials are in despair; pharma and vaccine stocks have slumped in response.