Senator Bob Smith (D-17) this morning wanted Commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services nominee Stephen Cha to tell him how he expects to get the correct information to the people of New Jersey, especially about vaccines, while the federal government under the watch of Health Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr., helms a misinformation campaign.

Kennedy seeks to change policy concerning vaccines, for example, that Smith said is settled.

"What is the degree that conflict with the national government can be resolved?" the senator wanted to know in his Senate Judiciary Committee cross-examination of Governor Mikie Sherrill's choice to lead the Department of Human Services.

Prior to joining the Sherrill Administration, according to the governor's office, Dr. Cha served as Counselor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, advising on a wide-ranging portfolio that included the Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Indian Health Service, and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

At the federal level, anti-vaccine activist Kennedy rails against publicly funded research and development and, according to The Los Angeles Times, "thrown the regulation of new drug development into chaos."

As for vaccines, by way of context, more from The Los Angeles Times:

On Feb. 3 the FDA issued a so-called Refuse-to-File letter to the biotech company Moderna over a flu vaccine the company developed using its mRNA technology, which was the core of its COVID-19 vaccine and is at the center of Moderna’s pipeline of developmental vaccines against cancer, HIV, Lyme disease, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and many other conditions.

The letter, which was signed by Vinay Prasad, the vaccine critic who is now director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, was more than merely a rejection of Moderna’s clinical testing of the vaccine; it was a refusal even to examine Moderna’s data, which the company says was derived from tests on nearly 44,000 subjects.

...

Kennedy has removed six vaccines from the recommended 17-vaccine childhood immunization schedule — making vaccines for rotavirus, COVID-19, flu, meningococcal disease and hepatitis A and B and hepatitis B subject to “shared clinical decision-making” between parents and physicians, opening the door to lower vaccination rates for those conditions.

Kennedy has stocked key public health advisory committees with anti-vax crusaders. He fired all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), most of whom were experts in immunization, epidemiology, public health and related 

Cha was careful in his response to Smith.

"Our role is to determine payment for those vaccines," he said.  "It breaks my heart to see what's happening now [at the federal Department of Health, where he used to work]."

"I agree with the peace love approach," said Smith, "but what if you don't have peace love? What if the national advice is contrary to New Jersey practice? Will you be aggressive if you don't agree."

Cha said he intends to be proactive but didn't provide any detail.

"Sounds like you'll get to it when you'll get to it but you'd better start thinking about it," Smith advised.

Earlier in his questioning, in a dig at Kennedy, the senator from Middlesex asked Cha, "Any chance we'll be seeing you in a workout video?"

"No," said Cha. "My shirt stays on."

"That's the correct answer," said Smith.

Cha received a 9-0 vote of support from the committee.