Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Phoenix on August 23, 2024.
Thomas Machowicz | Reuters
Shares of vaccine makers fell Thursday as President-elect Donald Trump named Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic, to head the Department of Health and Human Services.
Stocks fell in the final hour of trading as reports emerged about Trump's expected election. ModernShares closed down more than 5% on Thursday Novavax fell by more than 7% and PfizerShares closed down more than 2%.
Shares of BioNTechthe German drugmaker, which was involved in developing a Covid vaccine with Pfizer, closed more than 6% lower. British drug manufacturer GSKwhich makes flu shots and several other vaccines, closed about 2% lower.
Shares of these companies fell further in extended trading as Trump confirmed his election in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Health policy experts said a second Trump term could allow Kennedy to sharpen his anti-vaccine rhetoric, which could deter more Americans from receiving Covid shots and routine vaccinations that have saved millions of lives and prevented debilitating diseases for decades.
Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are still recovering from falling Covid vaccination rates in the US that have dented their profits over the past two years.
Kennedy's track record as a vaccine skeptic is extensive. He has a long history of making misleading and false statements about the safety of vaccines, such as claiming they are linked to autism, despite numerous decades-long studies refuting this connection.
Kennedy is the founder of the nonprofit Children's Health Defense, the country's most well-funded anti-vaccine organization.
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