CDC plans study into potential vaccines, autism connections, Reuters reports

The U.S. CDC plans to embark on a large study into potential connections between vaccines and autism, despite extensive scientific research that has disproven or failed to find evidence of such links, Reuters’ Dan Levine and Leah Douglas report. It is unclear whether Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Health Secretary who has long promoted anti-vaccine views, is involved in the planned study or how it would be carried out. The CDC’s move comes amid a measles outbreak, with more than 150 cases and two deaths in Texas and New Mexico. Publicly traded vaccine stocks include Moderna (MRNA), BioNTech (BNTX), Novovax (NVAX), Pfizer (PFE), Merck (MRK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Gilead (GILD), and Sanofi (SNY).