When Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. started his tenure as Well being and Human Companies Secretary, he pledged, “We received’t take away anybody’s vaccines.” Nonetheless, latest coverage modifications underneath his management—coupled with the unprecedented dismissal of all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on June 9—have confirmed that assertion false, elevating grave issues for our nation’s COVID-19 response and broader vaccine insurance policies. These shifts not solely jeopardize public well being but additionally threaten to erode belief in our well being establishments at a important time.
In Might 2025, the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a brand new COVID-19 vaccine framework, limiting entry to up to date vaccines for People aged 65 and older or these with particular danger elements. Moreover, Secretary Kennedy introduced that the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for “wholesome” kids or pregnant ladies—bypassing the usual ACIP evaluate course of.
Compounding these modifications, the abrupt removing of ACIP’s whole panel of impartial consultants, who’ve guided evidence-based vaccine coverage for many years, dangers destabilizing a cornerstone of public well being. These actions collectively prohibit entry to an important software for saving lives and undermine confidence in our well being programs.
Learn Extra: What to Know About RFK Jr. Removing All Experts From CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee
Throughout my tenure as Surgeon Basic underneath the primary Trump administration, we confronted vital public well being challenges, from addressing the opioid epidemic by rising entry to Naloxone to launching Operation Warp Velocity for the COVID-19 vaccine growth effort. The vaccines developed underneath Trump’s first time period have confirmed to be one in all our best defenses in opposition to COVID-19; but, the present administration’s new insurance policies restrict their availability, probably leaving hundreds of thousands susceptible. The dismissal of ACIP’s consultants—with no clear plan for changing them with certified scientists—additional jeopardizes belief within the establishments tasked with defending People.
The most important flaw within the new vaccine framework is its slim evaluation of danger. Though the rapid risks of COVID-19 have lessened, it stays a number one reason for demise and hospitalization, claiming almost 50,000 lives within the U.S. in 2024—greater than breast cancer or car accidents. The very fact is, 75% of People have danger elements, equivalent to weight problems or diabetes, that improve their vulnerability to extreme COVID outcomes. Nonetheless, the burden is now positioned on people to self-identify as excessive danger, creating confusion and inconsistency in entry. Not like different international locations with centralized programs for figuring out at-risk people, the U.S. expects sufferers—a lot of whom lack quick access to healthcare—to navigate eligibility alone.
Threat evaluation also needs to think about particular person circumstances past underlying well being situations. A 58-year-old bus driver or healthcare employee faces considerably larger publicity than somebody working remotely. By limiting vaccines to particular teams primarily based solely on preexisting well being standing, the coverage overlooks these important contextual variations.
Secretary Kennedy’s staff argues that there’s inadequate proof to assist up to date COVID-19 vaccines for wholesome People underneath 65, however this declare is flatly unfounded. Years of real-world knowledge display that vaccines save lives and reduce hospitalizations throughout all age teams. Through the 2023 to 2024 fall and winter season, 95% of these hospitalized for COVID had not acquired an up to date vaccine. Whereas the administration cites different international locations’ extra restrictive vaccine insurance policies, such comparisons ignore the distinctive well being panorama within the U.S., which incorporates increased weight problems charges, worse maternal well being outcomes, and uneven healthcare entry.
The coverage additionally neglects the problem of Lengthy COVID, which affects millions with debilitating signs lasting months or years. Although older adults are at increased danger for extreme acute infections, Lengthy COVID disproportionately impacts adults aged 35 to 49—and kids are also affected. Vaccination reduces the risk of creating Lengthy COVID, a necessary motive many wholesome people select to remain up-to-date with their vaccines.
Learn Extra: What’s the Risk of Getting Long COVID in 2024?
Notably regarding is the choice to finish COVID vaccine suggestions for “wholesome” pregnant ladies, which contradicts the FDA’s personal steerage. Pregnant ladies face heightened risks of extreme COVID outcomes, together with demise, pre-eclampsia, and miscarriage. Vaccination throughout being pregnant is essential—not only for maternal well being but additionally for protecting infants underneath six months, who can’t be vaccinated and depend on maternal antibodies for cover. A long time of analysis verify that vaccines, together with COVID vaccines, safely switch antibodies to newborns, reducing their danger of extreme sickness.
The dismissal of ACIP’s members amplifies these issues. ACIP has been a trusted, science-driven physique that ensures vaccines are secure and efficient, saving numerous lives by its clear suggestions. Its members, rigorously vetted for experience and conflicts of curiosity, present impartial steerage important to public well being. Eradicating them with out clear proof of misconduct dangers changing certified scientists with much less skilled voices. This transfer fuels vaccine hesitancy and skepticism about public well being selections, notably when paired with the bypassing of ACIP’s evaluate course of for the brand new COVID vaccine insurance policies.
These modifications create uncertainty about who can entry vaccines. With out clear CDC suggestions, insurance coverage firms might impose their very own protection standards, probably rising prices for a vaccine that was beforehand free for many People. Healthcare suppliers, missing federal steerage and ACIP’s experience, might battle to advise sufferers, resulting in a complicated and inequitable system that limits alternative—hardly the “medical freedom” Secretary Kennedy claims to champion.
Finally, these actions threaten to erode belief in public well being. FDA officers argue the brand new framework enhances transparency, but bypassing ACIP’s evaluate and dismissing its members undermines that intention. In depth knowledge display that up to date vaccines decrease hospitalization and demise charges, but this proof was sidelined. Such actions breed skepticism, making it more durable to unite People round shared well being objectives.
The stakes are excessive, however a greater path is feasible. Restoring belief requires clear, evidence-based policymaking that prioritizes entry to life-saving instruments. I urge Secretary Kennedy and the administration to rethink this framework, reinstate ACIP’s function in vaccine coverage, and guarantee any new appointees are certified, impartial consultants. If issues about ACIP exist, they need to be addressed by reform, not dissolution. Healthcare suppliers and neighborhood leaders should additionally educate sufferers about vaccination advantages, notably for susceptible teams like pregnant ladies and people with excessive publicity. People can take motion by staying knowledgeable, discussing vaccination with their docs, and advocating for clear, equitable entry to vaccines.
By working collectively—authorities, suppliers, and residents—we will defend lives, scale back the burden of Lengthy COVID, and rebuild confidence in our public well being system. We should seize this chance to unite round science and guarantee a more healthy, safer, and affluent future for all People.
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