Video: Sen. Tim Kaine Presses Trump’s Surgeon General Nominee Regarding the Efficacy of the Flu Vaccine; Gets Evasions in Response

From Sen. Tim Kaine’s office:

“Today, during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) pressed the Surgeon General nominee Dr. Casey Means regarding the efficacy of the flu vaccine.

‘In a news report on January 7 – just a month or so ago – Secretary Kennedy stated, ‘There is no evidence – no evidence – that the flu vaccine prevents serious disease or that it prevents hospitalization or deaths in children.’ Do you agree with that statement?’ Kaine asked.

‘As I’ve said, I believe vaccines save lives and are an important part of our public health,’ Dr. Means responded.

Kaine asked again about the flu vaccine specifically. ‘Do you agree with the statement that there’s no evidence that the flu vaccine prevents serious disease or that it prevents hospitalizations or death in children?’

Dr. Means responded, ‘I have not personally seen that quote or that article. I would want to review it before I comment on that.’

Kaine pressed again, ‘Let me set aside the quote and set aside Secretary Kennedy and set aside the article. Do you believe that there is evidence that the flu vaccine prevents serious disease or that it prevents hospitalizations or death in children?’

‘I believe that all patients should talk to their doctor,’ she responded. 

‘There is a mountain of evidence about this. Do you believe that there’s no evidence that the flu vaccine has efficacy in reducing serious injury or hospitalization?’ Kaine said.

Dr. Means responded, ‘I support the CDC’s guidance on the flu vaccine, and I will always be working with the CDC, ACIP, and the agencies to make sure.’

Kaine continued to push her, and Dr. Means responded, “At the population level, I certainly think it does.”

‘This is not a hard question,’ Kaine continued. ‘Three minutes in, you answered a question that has a very simple yes, or it had a very simple no to the proposition stated by the Secretary that there is no evidence – the Secretary said there is no evidence – that this is effective.'”

P.S. For more information on Casey Means, see here:

• “Means has repeated FDA Commissioner Marty Makary‘s claim that the third leading cause of death in the United States is medical error (i.e., death “from medical care itself”), a claim that has been criticized by experts as ‘self-serving, irresponsible sensationalism’, and based on ‘incredible numbers borne out of unreliable calculations.'”
• “In addition, Means has criticized the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and, per New York magazine, she has ‘raised long-settled questions about the safety and efficacy of vaccines despite not representing herself as an anti-vaxxer'”
• “Means has referred to infertility as a crisis, and has been critical of hormonal contraception on both medical grounds, questioning how it affects women’s health, and moral grounds, referring to it as a “‘isrespect of life’.”
• “Means has spoken in support of raw milk, stating, ‘When it comes to a question like raw milk, I want to be free to form a relationship with a local farmer, understand his integrity, look him in the eyes, pet his cow, and then decide if I feel safe to drink the milk from his farm’.”

In short, she’s exactly what you’d expect from a Trump nominee – not good at all!