Vaccine maker stocks fall as Trump picks RFK Jr. to lead HHS | Wilnesh News

Shares of vaccine makers fell on Thursday Report President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate noted vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Stocks fell in the final hour of trading as reports emerged about Trump’s expected pick. modernThe company’s shares closed down more than 5% on Thursday Novavax The decline exceeds 7% and PfizerShares closed down more than 2%.

shares BiotechnologyThe German drugmaker, which is working with Pfizer to develop a coronavirus vaccine, closed down more than 6%. British pharmaceutical company GSKThe company, which makes flu shots and several other vaccines, closed down about 2%.

Shares of the companies were mixed in after-hours trading Thursday.

Health policy experts say a second Trump term could allow Kennedy to escalate his anti-vaccination rhetoric, which could prevent more Americans from receiving the COVID-19 shots and routine immunizations that have saved millions of lives for decades. lives and prevent debilitating diseases.

Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are still recovering from a drop in U.S. coronavirus vaccination rates that has dented their profits over the past two years.

Kennedy’s record as a vaccine skeptic is extensive. He has a long history of making misleading and false claims about the safety of injections, such as claiming they are linked to autism, despite numerous studies dating back decades debunking that link.

Kennedy is the founder of the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense Organization, the most well-funded anti-vaccine organization in the United States.