Finally, after a death and a very public fumble, Kennedy says, well...maybe we should consider vaccination.

And the anti-vax world comes unglued.

In a Sunday opinion piece on Fox, HHS Sec. Robert Kennedy, Jr., finally said what epidemiologists and pediatricians have been screaming for weeks: that a disaster is in process in Texas, with the first measles death in a decade—a child—and rapidly spreading cases. His statement was carefully worded and late, but made two real points: that vaccines not only protect kids, but protect public health.

That followed a clear fumble last week when reporters finally ran him down during a Cabinet meeting and forced a comment. He only said three things about the outbreak then, and he was wrong on all three (see more here). To many in public health, he came off as dazed and completely unprepared.

His hand on the Fox op ed may have been forced by the (also Friday) abrupt resignation of Thomas Corry, who had joined Kennedy only two week prior. Corry, the top spokesperson at HHS, quit after clashing with Kennedy and his close aides over their management (non-management?) of the agency’s response to the measles outbreak. The final straw may well have been Corry hearing his boss tell the world there had been two deaths (incorrect); Corry would have been the likely one to have to clean that up.

Mother Jones reports anti-vaxers are not happy. “In the anti-vaccine world, few immunizations are as demonized as the measles, mumps, and rubella or MMR shot. For years, vaccine ‘skeptics’ have falsely claimed that the MMR vaccine causes autism, or sickens children with the very diseases it protects them against.” Kennedy’s statement that “vaccines not only protect individual children from measles but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons” was against just about every closely-held belief in that world.

It’s interesting he backed off. We’ll see how long this conversion lasts. Kennedy’s been on record for years against vaccination, definitely including vaccination for measles. As Mother Jones notes, “to describe this as a pivot for Kennedy would be an understatement.”