Overview
- Children’s Health Defense drew roughly 1,000 attendees to its Austin conference, where speakers openly reclaimed the “antivax” label and one declared, “God is an anti-vaxxer.”
- Senators Rand Paul and Ron Johnson addressed the gathering remotely, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo spoke, and Andrew Wakefield received a warm reception from attendees.
- Organizers outlined a targeted state-by-state strategy to eliminate school vaccine mandates, presenting a coordinated political playbook for the movement.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now HHS secretary, did not attend, yet his presence was heavily branded at the venue as his allies highlighted his influence and critics pointed to his workforce cuts and dismissal of a vaccine advisory board at HHS.
- The conference unfolded as polling shows rising vaccine hesitancy and the CDC reports the largest U.S. measles outbreak in more than 30 years, with 1,681 cases confirmed by Nov. 4.