Letters to the Editor: If vaccine-preventable illnesses come back, will America be great again?

To the editor: British physician Edward Jenner invented the first vaccine against smallpox in 1796. It was introduced in the United States in 1800. Thomas Jefferson promptly had his family and others around him vaccinated.
It is terrifying to realize that with the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of Health and Human Services, “Make America Great Again” apparently includes re-creating public health conditions predating this discovery.
Is this the greatness that President-elect Donald Trump wants? I hope not.
Rachel Green, Los Angeles
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To the editor: As a physician with a public health background, I was stunned to learn that Trump plans to nominate Kennedy for secretary of Health and Human Services.
Not only has he never administered any government entity, he also has no experience in healthcare, other than promoting beliefs considered crackpot by the broad consensus of American medicine.
Perhaps it’s best that Dr. Jack Kevorkian is no longer with us. He might have been a candidate for surgeon general in the Trump administration.
Daniel Stone, M.D., Los Angeles