FACTBOX-US Health Secretary Kennedy's vaccine actions and policy positions

Sept 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-time anti-vaccine activist, has been making sweeping changes to reshape vaccine, food and medicine policies at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.

Here are some of the vaccine-related policy moves under Kennedy's leadership:

FDA RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INFLUENZA VACCINES

Date of Announcement: March 13, 2025

Details: U.S. FDA independently recommends virus strains for 2025-2026 influenza vaccines, deviating from traditional advisory committee voting.

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXIN STUDIES RELATED TO AUTISM

Date of Announcement: April 16, 2025

Details: Kennedy plans a series of studies on links between autism and environmental factors, including mold, air, water and food. He said, without any scientific evidence, that "environmental toxins" are responsible for the rise in autism rates among children in the U.S.

LAUNCH OF U.S. AUTISM PROJECT USING MEDICARE AND MEDICAID DATA

Date of Announcement: May 7, 2025

Details: Federal agencies will create a database to research causes of autism, focusing on Medicare and Medicaid data, as part of a broader effort to explore potential links between vaccines and autism that Kennedy has previously promoted contrary to scientific evidence.

FDA TIGHTENS REQUIREMENTS FOR COVID-19 VACCINE

Date of Announcement: May 20, 2025

Details: The FDA plans new trials for annual COVID-19 boosters, limiting them to older adults and those at risk of severe illness. This change aligns with international perspectives on COVID vaccination strategies.

US DROPS COVID VACCINE RECOMMENDATION FOR HEALTHY CHILDREN, PREGNANT WOMEN

Date of Announcement: May 27, 2025

Details: The U.S. stops recommending routine COVID vaccinations for pregnant women and healthy children, bypassing the CDC's traditional advisory process and drawing criticism from medical groups.

CANCELLATION OF MODERNA BIRD FLU VACCINE CONTRACT

Date of Announcement: May 28, 2025

Details: The Trump administration cancels a contract with Moderna MRNA.O for the late-stage development of its bird flu vaccine amid a U.S. outbreak of the disease, saying it did not meet scientific standards.

KENNEDY GUTS VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Date of Announcement: June 9, 2025

Details: Kennedy fires all members of the CDC's expert vaccine advisory panel, which recommends how vaccines are used and by whom, promising to restore public trust in health agencies. Scientists and experts say the changes would undermine public confidence in health agencies.

KENNEDY REPLACES FIRED US CDC PANEL MEMBERS

Date of Announcement: June 11, 2025

Details: Kennedy names eight members to serve on a key panel of vaccine advisers, including several who have advocated against vaccines, after abruptly firing all 17 members of the independent committee of experts.

KENNEDY ACCEPTS VACCINE PANEL'S RECOMMENDATION TO REMOVE THIMEROSAL FROM US FLU SHOTS

Date of announcement: July 23, 2025

Details: The United States will stop distributing all influenza vaccines that contain mercury-based preservative thimerosal, as Kennedy accepts the new hand-picked vaccine panel's recommendation given in June.

CDC CUTS EXPERTS OUT OF PANELS THAT DEVELOP VACCINE POLICY

Date of report: July 31, 2025

Details: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told physician groups, public health professionals and infectious disease experts that they will no longer be invited to help review vaccine data and develop recommendations, Bloomberg News reported.

HHS TO WIND DOWN MRNA VACCINE DEVELOPMENT

Date of announcement: August 8, 2025

Details: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it would wind down mRNA vaccine development activities under its biomedical research unit. The technology was the basis for the COVID vaccines widely used during the pandemic and credited with saving millions of lives globally, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.

US ORDERS VAXART TO HALT COVID TRIAL DUE TO MRNA WIND DOWN

Date of announcement: August 13, 2025

Details: Vaxart VXRT.PK said it received an order to stop work on screening and enrollment for its mid-stage trial evaluating a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine, joining multiple biotech companies that have lost government funding for their vaccine programs. In 2024, Vaxart was awarded up to $453 million by the government to study its vaccine.

US CDC TAPS VACCINE SKEPTIC TO LEAD COVID COMMITTEE
Date of announcement: August 25, 2025
Details: The CDC chose Retsef Levi, a member of its key vaccine panel, to lead its COVID-19 immunization workgroup, a spokesperson for the health department told Reuters. The COVID-19 Immunization Working Group reviews data and scientific evidence on COVID vaccines to develop policy options for its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. ACIP uses these to make recommendations to the CDC director.

US FDA NARROWS UNDER-65 COVID VACCINE ELIGIBILITY; MAINTAINS FULL ACCESS FOR OLDER AMERICANS

Date of announcement: August 27, 2025
Details: The FDA cleared updated COVID-19 vaccines for everyone over age 65 but narrowed its recommendation for younger people to those with health risks, in a shift from prior years when most people were eligible for the inoculations. It also rescinded the Pfizer PFE.N shot's emergency use authorization for children under age 5, leaving only Moderna's shot for kids 6 months through 4 years. Both use mRNA technology

CDC DIRECTOR FIRED AFTER VACCINE POLICY CLASH WITH KENNEDY
Date of announcement: August 28, 2025
Details: CDC Director Susan Monarez was fired after resisting changes to vaccine policy that were advanced by Kennedy that she believed contradicted scientific evidence. In September, Monarez said she was pushed to rubber-stamp the decisions of Kennedy's hand-picked vaccine advisory committee, calling her ouster part of a broader push to weaken U.S. vaccine standards.

REVAMPED CDC VACCINE PANEL TO MEET ON SEPTEMBER 18
Date of announcement: September 2, 2025
Details: A revamped U.S. CDC vaccine advisory committee is scheduled to meet on September 18, and could vote on shots for hepatitis B, measles-mumps-rubella-varicella and respiratory syncytial virus, according to the Federal Register.

KENNEDY PICKS SEVEN NEW MEMBERS FOR US CDC VACCINE PANEL

Date of announcement: September 3, 2025

Details: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has chosen seven new members for the CDC's ACIP panel, an internal CDC document showed on Wednesday.