Emails Show Kennedy’s 2019 Samoa Trip Aimed at Health Records System but Produced No Policy Change

Emails released by the US Department of State show that Robert F Kennedy Jr traveled to Samoa in 2019 as part of a mission to evaluate health outcomes linked to a recent halt in vaccinations. The Guardian reported that Dr Michael Graven, then chief information officer of Children’s Health Defense, described the effort in messages to Samoan officials.

Graven wrote on 13 May 2019 that the mission would collect medical record data from all hospitals and clinics to assess results tied to the vaccination discontinuity.

He stated that Kennedy had asked him to join and that the work would be conducted without bias. Graven also noted his prior experience in 48 countries. Kennedy met Samoa’s prime minister on 1 June 2019.

He arrived on 30 May with his wife, Cheryl Hines, and Graven. Vaccination rates in Samoa remained low after the government resumed shots in April 2019 following a 10-month suspension prompted by two infant deaths from a tainted measles, mumps and rubella vaccine in 2018. A measles outbreak began months later, sickening thousands and killing 83 people, mostly children under five.

At his Senate confirmation hearing, Kennedy stated the trip had nothing to do with vaccines and that its purpose was to introduce a medical informatics system funded by a $6 million grant from Children’s Health Defense. An email from State Department employee Antone Greubel on 4 June 2019 said Kennedy and Graven left after a few days and fell short of influencing vaccination policy.

In a 2021 blog post, Kennedy wrote that Samoan officials sought to measure outcomes after the vaccination pause.