Kennedy, the documentary filmmaker, interviewed RFK Jr. in 2021 and said he found him evasive and insincere. He believes RFK Jr. “would be a disaster for the future of our country’s health, nutrition, agriculture and more.”

In his opinion, RFK Jr. disregards “fundamental principles that underlie science and democracy: commitment to empirical evidence, verifiable truth, free exchange of ideas, accountability, and rigorous peer review.” He cherry-picks and makes it sound like he’s the one Follow science. But we have overwhelming evidence that he is not an honest broker.”

Kennedy spoke to both vaccine advocates and skeptics for the documentary, which covers the history of vaccines and the implications of a now-debunked 1998 study by British scientist Andrew Wakefield that fraudulently found a link between vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and autism have been claimed. This study fueled the anti-vax movement.

“We distinguish between very clever, nefarious people like Wakefield who convince mothers of children with autism that the MMR vaccine causes autism in the mothers themselves,” Kennedy said.

Photo credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Photo credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Neil deGrasse Tyson, the esteemed astrophysicist and executive producer of the film, joined Kennedy in August at a vaccination conference for public health officials at the Marriott Marquis, where they screened the film on behalf of the Atlanta-based nonprofit group Task Force for Global Health focused on programs aimed at eliminating disease and protecting vulnerable populations.

Although public health is not his primary area, Tyson told the AJC that he sees vaccine hesitancy “as a symptom of something deeper.” It’s the ease with which people pick out what they see on the internet in a way that matches the bias they represent in the conversation.”

Tyson says: “Anti-vaxxers come from the same class of society as those who think we’ve never been to the moon or say the earth is flat.” That would be ridiculous if the anti-vaxxers weren’t well organized. They are very influential and have YouTube channels that gain followers daily. The methods and tactics they have developed to navigate the landscape of anti-science thinking overlap greatly with the goals of this project.”

He said he initially gave Kennedy pointers about how he could co-create the film and became so involved that Kennedy asked him to join as an executive producer. “I was able to bring the perspective of a public educator, which is different than that of a director/producer,” he said.

Kennedy said Tyson’s advice was invaluable. “You changed my life, my brother,” he told Tyson. “It wasn’t just a better film. They helped me become a better communicator.”

“I broke him,” Tyson said.

Even during the interview, when Kennedy said the film had become “more complicated” following the COVID-19 outbreak, Tyson suggested using the less negative word “complex.”

Photo credit: PBS

Photo credit: PBS

Kennedy is grateful for scientists who care about finding the truth, even if they make mistakes along the way. His favorite interviewee was Paul Offit, a pediatrician who directs the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and is the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine that aims to save lives.

“Paul is honest, funny and self-reflective,” Kennedy said. “He follows the science and changes his mind when the evidence shows he must. He will admit that he is wrong. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad person or crazy. This means he is a scientist who works and adapts.”

Kennedy said he hopes “people leave my film with a little sense of healing.” We’ve been through this once-in-a-century pandemic. We hope we can see that there is more to agree with than disagree with. We as a society function better when we work together within a social contract. We must have the humility to control ourselves and not be so selfish.”

IF YOU WATCH

“Shot in the Arm,” available upon request at pbs.org