Sunny Hostin slams RFK Jr. for limiting COVID vaccine access after inlaws died of disease: 'A horrible loss'
Sunny Hostin slams RFK Jr. for limiting COVID vaccine access after in-laws died of disease: 'A horrible loss'
The panelist described her in-laws' deaths as "such a horrible loss for our family" that they still grapple with to this day.
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September 8, 2025 3:22 p.m. ET
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Sunny Hostin attends the 2024 White House Correspondents' Dinner at The Washington Hilton on April 27, 2024 in Washington, DC; Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. appears before the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 4, 2025. Credit:
Paul Morigi/Getty; Andrew Harnik/Getty
Sunny Hostin is rebuking Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his decision to limit COVID-19 vaccines last month. **
During the season 29 premiere of *The View* on Monday, the 56-year-old legal expert noted that the politician's decision to impose these "catastrophic" limits was especially personal for her because her husband Emmanuel Hostin's parents died of COVID just three days apart in 2021. **
"For me, as all of you know, it's very personal because my husband's parents died from COVID," Hostin said at the Hot Topics table. "One died Dec. 28, the other died three days later, Jan. 1."
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Sunny Hostin and Emmanuel Hostin attend the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 2022 Opening Night Gala at New York City Center on Nov. 30, 2022.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty
The panelist described their deaths as "such a horrible loss for our family" that they still grapple with to this day.**
"We feel it at Christmas. We feel it at Thanksgiving. There are empty seats at my table," Hostin said. "And so the notion that people can't access vaccines I know will lead to death. I know it. And this misinformation that he is providing is such a disservice. Such a disservice to children, seniors, everyone." **
Hostin added that she's seeing these limits already being imposed on vaccines in real life, too. "This is anecdotal, but my aunt — she's over 65, she's a retired teacher, she has certain health complications — she went to CVS and Walgreens and they denied her vaccines," she said. "They wanted a prescription."**
The only "bright side," she noted, is that it will force individuals to start getting their healthcare information "from other places because we know we can't trust RFK Jr." moving forward.
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She specifically spotlighted the West Coast Health Alliance — a regional response from California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii that aims to provide "unified recommendations on immunizations to residents based on science, not politics," per a press release. **
Whoopi Goldberg added that the government was effectively "playing Russian roulette with the lives of children" with this move. "Let's start with the kids. Because any time you go to a school, it is a… who knows what's in there. They sneeze, everybody gets sick." **
The EGOT-winner continued, "We know that this happens. There are reasons why people put these mandates in place. Now you want to get rid of all of 'em? You're basically saying, let's see what happens if your kid goes to school with other kids? And your grandparents, who are elderly, are in with your grandkids? So now you're saying, y'all don't care. So what do we do?"
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Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin on 'The View'.
Hostin revealed in a 2021 episode of *The View* that her father-in-law, Dr. A. Emmanuel, and mother-in-law, Dr. Maria Jesus, passed away from COVID after coming down with the illness, which has killed over 1 million U.S. citizens.
"COVID is devastating and while my kids and Manny's siblings, Helen and Carlos, we are in deep grief, we want everybody to know that you may think you're healthy and that you won't be impacted, but you could be an asymptomatic carrier, you could put someone you love at risk," she said at the time. "So please, I beg of you, social distance, wear your mask, wash your hands. And if you get the opportunity to take this vaccine, take it." **
*The View* airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ABC.
Source: "AOL TV"
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