U.S. Health Secretary Kennedy renews backing for vaccination “freedom of choice”

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., photographed on Feb. 4, 2026 at the Tennessee State Capitol. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reiterated his support Wednesday for the rights of parents to keep their children from taking vaccinations, even those required for enrollment in public schools.

Kennedy visited the State Capitol on a Make America Healthy Again tour, encouraging people to eat better food, discussing his efforts to cut out food dyes and touting his work to send federal funds to rural areas for health care. Tennessee lawmakers are being asked to approve $1 billion over five years as part of the Rural Health Transformation program, following federal Medicaid cuts, as long as they agree to a long list of mandates.

Sticking with his stance on vaccines, Kennedy said the federal government recommends vaccinations but noted he hasn’t been involved in the issue on a state-by-state basis.

Asked if he wants to see more states end mandated vaccinations for school enrollment, Kennedy said, “I believe in freedom of choice.” 

He said that the federal government isn’t removing access to vaccines but added, “I think that’s a personal choice people should make with their physicians and they should make with their families.”

Kennedy pointed out that the United States signed the Nuremberg Code, which he claimed requires “freedom of choice on medical intervention.” The code refers to ethical principles on human experimentation adopted following World War II, in reaction to experiments Nazi Germany scientists performed on people.

During the COVID pandemic, Kennedy and other critics of the COVID-19 vaccine said government mandates violated the Nuremberg Code because people were being required to take the shots.

Penn University’s Medical Ethics and Health Policy published a fact check in 2020 saying the code addresses experimentation rather than vaccines.

“This is just the latest example of a falsehood aimed at discrediting vaccines during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus,” the fact check says.

Physicians protesting Kennedy’s appearance at the Capitol said Wednesday they’re worried that state officials will listen to him because of the authority the Trump administration has given him, even though he has no medical expertise. 

Vaccinations for preventable diseases are critical to public health, they said, raising concerns about whether a measles outbreak in South Carolina could make its way to Tennessee.

Dr. Adam Gailani, a Nashville pediatric infection disease physician, held a sign about the recent deaths of children from whooping cough while discussing his concerns about Kennedy.

“It’s dangerous. It’s gonna cause less people to get vaccinated. It’s gonna cause more and more deaths,” Gailani said.

Republican Sen. Bobby Harshbarger, a Kingsport pharmacist who was among the crowd of state lawmakers cheering Kennedy’s words, said afterward he also favors “parental choice,” including for the mumps, measles, rubella vaccine typically given to children at about a year old and four to six years of age. 

Harshbarger said many of his constituents are worried about vaccines because of concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine, whichdidn’t go through a full FDA approval process.

“I think they have their place, but I’m not gonna sit here and mandate someone to have something that they don’t believe in,” Harshbarger said. 

Republican Rep. Monty Fritts of Kingston, a gubernatorial candidate, also said afterward he favors parental choice on vaccinations, even on MMR vaccines, which protect against measles, mumps and rubella.

“I think God gives the child to the parent, not the state,” Fritts said.