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A battle is brewing over mRNA vaccines, which could intensify backlash against Kennedy.
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty | Win McNamee
Under ardent anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr, federal health officials are working to link COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to the deaths of 25 children, and may further restrict access to the shots, possibly recommending them for people aged 75 and up, instead of 65 and up, according to The Washington Post.
Four unnamed sources close to the situation told the Post that Trump administration health officials appear to be using information from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) to make the claim that COVID-19 vaccines have killed children. VAERS is a system in which anyone can report anything they think is an adverse event related to a vaccination. The reports are completely unverified upon submission, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff follow up on serious reports to try to substantiate claims and assess if they were actually caused by a vaccine. They rarely are.
Vaccine safety
Federal health experts continuously monitor VAERS and other safety surveillance systems, exhaustively assessing the safety of vaccines. After billions of COVID-19 doses have been administered worldwide, they—like other governments, health organizations, and academic researchers around the world—have found the shots to be remarkably safe. While they have been linked to a risk of myocarditis and pericarditis (inflammation of the heart and surrounding tissue, respectively), that risk is low and the cases are generally mild. During the 2023–2024 COVID-19 season, the incidence rate of heart conditions was 27 cases per million doses for males aged 12 to 24, who have the highest risk of any group. The shots have not been linked to deaths or heart transplants, according to data presented by staff experts at the CDC.
Generally, among people of all ages, death rates were lower for those vaccinated with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines than in the general population. Meanwhile, 25 children died of COVID-19—the disease, not the vaccine—since July 2023. Of those 25 children, 16 were old enough to get vaccinated, but 14 had no record of getting a vaccine, and none were up-to-date on their vaccines.
Still, Kennedy has a long-established disdain for the mRNA vaccines. In 2021, at the height of the pandemic, Kennedy petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to revoke authorization of COVID-19 vaccines and refrain from approving any future COVID-19 vaccines. He has since repeatedly spread false information about the vaccine, including claiming, without evidence, that they have caused the death of children and are "the deadliest vaccine ever made." In making those comments, Kennedy has pointed to VAERS as his data source.
Now that Kennedy is Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), he has continued his anti-vaccine agenda and diligently installed allies in federal health agencies who share his anti-vaccine, anti-science, and anti-public health views.
Attack on vaccines
For instance, last month, Kennedy canceled nearly $500 million in grants that supported developing mRNA vaccines to prevent the next pandemic. In June, Kennedy fired all 17 highly qualified and respected experts on a vaccine advisory panel for the CDC—the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices—which sets the vaccine standards and insurance coverage for the country. Kennedy quickly restocked ACIP with hand-selected members who share his contempt for mRNA vaccines and pandemic policies. He's currently considering adding more such members.
Kennedy's ACIP is scheduled to meet next week, September 18 and 19, to discuss COVID-19 vaccines, as well as the Hepatitis B vaccine, the measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (MMRV) vaccine, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
While the new members could vote to further restrict access to any of those safe, lifesaving vaccines, most of the focus has been on COVID-19 vaccine access. That access is currently in chaos due to new restrictions and a lack of updated ACIP recommendations, which are usually made earlier in the year. Under Kennedy, the FDA restricted access to the vaccines, changing the product approvals from being available to everyone ages 6 months and up to now only being approved for those 65 and older, and those under 64 who have a medical condition that puts them at a higher risk of COVID-19.
While some experts and health care providers had hoped that next week's ACIP meeting would add clarity to the situation and allow healthy adults and children better access to the shots, the Post's reporting suggests that's unlikely. According to their sources, Kennedy's ACIP is considering recommending the vaccines to those 75 and older, while instructing those 74 and younger to speak with their doctor about getting a shot. Another reported option is to not recommend the vaccine to people under the age of 75 at all, unless they have a preexisting condition.
Backlash
Such additional restrictions would likely intensify the backlash against Kennedy's anti-vaccine agenda. Already, medical organizations have taken the unprecedented action to release their own evidence-based guidances that maintain COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children, particularly those under age 2, pregnant people, and healthy adults. Many medical and health organizations, as well as lawmakers, and over 1,000 current and former HHS employees have also called for Kennedy to resign.
Criticism of Kennedy's actions has spread across party lines. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a vaccine-supporting physician who cast a critical vote for Kennedy's confirmation, had accused Kennedy of denying people vaccines and called for next week's ACIP meeting to be postponed.
“Serious allegations have been made about the meeting agenda, membership, and lack of scientific process being followed for the now announced September ACIP meeting," Cassidy said. "These decisions directly impact children’s health, and the meeting should not occur until significant oversight has been conducted. If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership."
Meanwhile, in a clear rebuff of Kennedy's cancellation of mRNA vaccine funding, the Republican-led House Committee on Appropriations this week passed a 2026 spending bill that was specifically amended to inject the words "including of mRNA vaccines" into a sentence about pandemic preparedness funding. The bill now reads: "$1,100,000,000, to remain available through September 30, 2027, shall be for expenses necessary to support advanced research and development, including of mRNA vaccines, pursuant to section 319L of the PHS Act and other administrative expenses of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority."
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty | Win McNamee
Under ardent anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr, federal health officials are working to link COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to the deaths of 25 children, and may further restrict access to the shots, possibly recommending them for people aged 75 and up, instead of 65 and up, according to The Washington Post.
Four unnamed sources close to the situation told the Post that Trump administration health officials appear to be using information from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) to make the claim that COVID-19 vaccines have killed children. VAERS is a system in which anyone can report anything they think is an adverse event related to a vaccination. The reports are completely unverified upon submission, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff follow up on serious reports to try to substantiate claims and assess if they were actually caused by a vaccine. They rarely are.
Vaccine safety
Federal health experts continuously monitor VAERS and other safety surveillance systems, exhaustively assessing the safety of vaccines. After billions of COVID-19 doses have been administered worldwide, they—like other governments, health organizations, and academic researchers around the world—have found the shots to be remarkably safe. While they have been linked to a risk of myocarditis and pericarditis (inflammation of the heart and surrounding tissue, respectively), that risk is low and the cases are generally mild. During the 2023–2024 COVID-19 season, the incidence rate of heart conditions was 27 cases per million doses for males aged 12 to 24, who have the highest risk of any group. The shots have not been linked to deaths or heart transplants, according to data presented by staff experts at the CDC.
Generally, among people of all ages, death rates were lower for those vaccinated with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines than in the general population. Meanwhile, 25 children died of COVID-19—the disease, not the vaccine—since July 2023. Of those 25 children, 16 were old enough to get vaccinated, but 14 had no record of getting a vaccine, and none were up-to-date on their vaccines.
Still, Kennedy has a long-established disdain for the mRNA vaccines. In 2021, at the height of the pandemic, Kennedy petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to revoke authorization of COVID-19 vaccines and refrain from approving any future COVID-19 vaccines. He has since repeatedly spread false information about the vaccine, including claiming, without evidence, that they have caused the death of children and are "the deadliest vaccine ever made." In making those comments, Kennedy has pointed to VAERS as his data source.
Now that Kennedy is Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), he has continued his anti-vaccine agenda and diligently installed allies in federal health agencies who share his anti-vaccine, anti-science, and anti-public health views.
Attack on vaccines
For instance, last month, Kennedy canceled nearly $500 million in grants that supported developing mRNA vaccines to prevent the next pandemic. In June, Kennedy fired all 17 highly qualified and respected experts on a vaccine advisory panel for the CDC—the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices—which sets the vaccine standards and insurance coverage for the country. Kennedy quickly restocked ACIP with hand-selected members who share his contempt for mRNA vaccines and pandemic policies. He's currently considering adding more such members.
Kennedy's ACIP is scheduled to meet next week, September 18 and 19, to discuss COVID-19 vaccines, as well as the Hepatitis B vaccine, the measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (MMRV) vaccine, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
While the new members could vote to further restrict access to any of those safe, lifesaving vaccines, most of the focus has been on COVID-19 vaccine access. That access is currently in chaos due to new restrictions and a lack of updated ACIP recommendations, which are usually made earlier in the year. Under Kennedy, the FDA restricted access to the vaccines, changing the product approvals from being available to everyone ages 6 months and up to now only being approved for those 65 and older, and those under 64 who have a medical condition that puts them at a higher risk of COVID-19.
While some experts and health care providers had hoped that next week's ACIP meeting would add clarity to the situation and allow healthy adults and children better access to the shots, the Post's reporting suggests that's unlikely. According to their sources, Kennedy's ACIP is considering recommending the vaccines to those 75 and older, while instructing those 74 and younger to speak with their doctor about getting a shot. Another reported option is to not recommend the vaccine to people under the age of 75 at all, unless they have a preexisting condition.
Backlash
Such additional restrictions would likely intensify the backlash against Kennedy's anti-vaccine agenda. Already, medical organizations have taken the unprecedented action to release their own evidence-based guidances that maintain COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children, particularly those under age 2, pregnant people, and healthy adults. Many medical and health organizations, as well as lawmakers, and over 1,000 current and former HHS employees have also called for Kennedy to resign.
Criticism of Kennedy's actions has spread across party lines. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a vaccine-supporting physician who cast a critical vote for Kennedy's confirmation, had accused Kennedy of denying people vaccines and called for next week's ACIP meeting to be postponed.
“Serious allegations have been made about the meeting agenda, membership, and lack of scientific process being followed for the now announced September ACIP meeting," Cassidy said. "These decisions directly impact children’s health, and the meeting should not occur until significant oversight has been conducted. If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership."
Meanwhile, in a clear rebuff of Kennedy's cancellation of mRNA vaccine funding, the Republican-led House Committee on Appropriations this week passed a 2026 spending bill that was specifically amended to inject the words "including of mRNA vaccines" into a sentence about pandemic preparedness funding. The bill now reads: "$1,100,000,000, to remain available through September 30, 2027, shall be for expenses necessary to support advanced research and development, including of mRNA vaccines, pursuant to section 319L of the PHS Act and other administrative expenses of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority."
