He knows the pain of Lyme disease better than anyone, but RFK Jr. is about to make a decision that has health experts terrified
Talk about a tricky situation.
Here’s some big news in the fight against Lyme disease: Pfizer just announced its plan to file for regulatory approval of a new Lyme disease vaccine. If it gets the green light, this would be the first vaccine for the tick-borne illness available in over two decades. This new development, however, lands right at a crossroads, especially when you consider the current US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
According to CNN, he knows the pain of Lyme disease all too well, often sharing stories about picking dozens of ticks off himself in the 1980s and how all his children have battled the illness, with two severely affected. As HHS secretary, RFK Jr. has pledged to tackle Lyme disease head-on, even convening a roundtable in December to discuss better diagnostics and treatments. He famously said, “We’ve got to figure out a way to make it safe for children to go back in the woods again.”
Despite his personal connection and commitment to fighting Lyme, Kennedy’s path forward with a vaccine could be incredibly complicated. He’s been a vocal proponent of anti-vaccine views and has even embraced conspiracy theories, including the idea that Lyme disease might have been engineered as a bioweapon by US government scientists during the Cold War.
Lyme disease is a growing problem across the US
Experts estimate around 476,000 people are diagnosed and treated for it each year. The areas where these blacklegged ticks, which carry the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, thrive are expanding rapidly, thanks in part to climate change.
Warmer temperatures extend the periods when ticks are active, and changes in land use, like suburbanization and fragmented forests, create ideal conditions for mice and other rodents that carry the bacteria. This means more people are vulnerable than ever before. If left untreated, Lyme can lead to severe issues like arthritis, persistent pain, and neurological problems, even after initial antibiotic treatment.
This isn’t the first time the US has seen a Lyme disease vaccine. Back in 1998, GSK’s Lymerix vaccine hit the market after FDA approval. But its journey was rocky from the start. Government bodies gave it lukewarm endorsements, and it came with caveats, like being approved only for people ages 15 to 70 and requiring three doses over a year for about 75% protection.
The CDC’s vaccine advisers, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), gave it a weak recommendation, essentially saying vaccination “should be considered” for high-risk individuals instead of a stronger, routine endorsement. Dr. Paul Offit, a former ACIP member, believes this “damned it with faint praise.”
After Lymerix launched, fears emerged — though later disproven — that the vaccine might cause arthritis, one of the very symptoms it aimed to prevent. Lawsuits piled up, even though an FDA advisory panel concluded in 2001 that there was no link between the vaccine and arthritis.
Despite no major safety concerns in its clinical trials, public interest fizzled, and GSK pulled Lymerix from the market in early 2002, citing “poor demand.” Dr. Stanley Plotkin, a vaccine pioneer, called it “a sad story” because “we had a good vaccine that failed because people didn’t use it.”
The new vaccine helps create antibodies to neutralize bacteria
Now, Pfizer and its partner Valneva are stepping up with a new vaccine that uses a similar approach to Lymerix. It introduces a surface protein from the Lyme bacteria, prompting the body to create antibodies that can neutralize the bacteria in a tick’s gut before it infects a human. This new vaccine showed about 75% efficacy in its trials, similar to Lymerix.
A key difference is that while Lymerix targeted one type of surface protein, the new vaccine protects against six types prevalent in North America and Europe. Plus, it was designed to avoid the theoretical arthritis risk that plagued its predecessor.
Even with Lyme disease rates skyrocketing, whether this new vaccine will be widely embraced remains “the big question,” according to Dr. Linden Hu of Tufts University. He notes that a “four-dose vaccine with 75% efficacy might be a difficult sell,” but it will still be a valuable option for those who want it.
Some advocacy groups, like LymeDisease.org, are still wary. CEO Lorraine Johnson pointed out that “the Lyme community had a sour taste in their mouth” from the Lymerix experience, even though the arthritis link was never proven. She also worries that a Lyme vaccine might give people a false sense of security, as ticks can transmit other serious pathogens that the vaccine wouldn’t cover.
RFK Jr. has never focused on vaccination as a solution
This brings us back to Secretary Kennedy. Despite his advocacy for Lyme disease, he hasn’t focused on vaccination as a solution. He’s pushed the conspiracy theory about Lyme being a bioweapon, a claim that disease ecologist Dr. Richard Ostfeld calls “destructive and clearly false.” Ostfeld highlights that the Lyme-causing bacteria and ticks have existed for millions of years.
Interestingly, an amendment to the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, championed by Rep. Chris Smith and signed into law by President Donald Trump in December, called for a report on biological weapons experiments on ticks and tick-borne diseases. Smith, who has long supported vaccine research, called Pfizer’s results “extremely promising.”
Kennedy has been less enthusiastic. In 2022, after Pfizer and Valneva released earlier trial results, he shared a story from his anti-vaccine advocacy group suggesting “some experts say treatment is a better solution.”
Since becoming secretary, he’s shaken up the childhood vaccine schedule and the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, and some vaccine makers are even pulling back on development. During his confirmation, when asked about his influence on vaccine approvals, Kennedy pledged, “There is nobody who will fight harder to find a vaccine or a treatment for Lyme disease than me.”
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