RFK Jr grilled on Covid, vaccines, and past comments at fiery Senate hearing

 It's been a feisty morning as the Senate Finance Committee grilled US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. If you're just joining us, here's what you've missed:

• Kennedy called false the claim from former CDC chief Susan Monarez's that he told her to sign off on vaccine recommendations that didn't have a scientific basis, and agreed that she was "lying" in an op-ed published today in the Wall Street Journal
• He said an overhaul of the CDC - from where he has fired several top advisors and employees - was "absolutely necessary", and that the agency "failed miserably during Covid"
• Senator Bernie Sanders asked if he accepted the Covid vaccine was a "miracle", to which RFK eventually conceded it saved "quite a few" lives
• RFK Jr said he was not anti-vax, but "pro-science" - though he has frequently made statements undermining vaccines' effectiveness in favour of alternative, unproven treatments which has angered many health experts
• Kennedy really got into it with several Democrats, accusing Senator Maggie Hassan of "just making stuff up" and calling Ben Ray Luján "ridiculous"
• The Democrats didn't sit back - Mark Warner said his claim that there were going to be no cuts to Medicaid "absurd", while Elizabeth Warren told RFK Jr: "You should resign"
• Some Republicans, including Bill Cassidy, a doctor, challenged Kennedy's policies, saying his constituents are having trouble finding Covid vaccine boosters due to confusion over new guidelines
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