Factbox-US Health Secretary Kennedy’s vaccine actions and policy positions

March 16 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Monday blocked key parts of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s effort to reshape U.S. vaccine policy, including a move to reduce the number of shots routinely ​recommended for children.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston sided with medical groups who said the health regulators acted unlawfully and warned the changes would harm vaccination rates and public 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 2025-26 influenza vaccines after canceling its planned independent advisory committee meeting and issuing the decision following a closed‑door inter-agency review.

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 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 U.S. 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.

Thimerosal is a compound used to prevent contamination in multi‑dose vials and has been deemed safe by major health agencies.

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 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 COMMITTEEDate of announcement: August 25, 2025Details: 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.

Levi had critiqued mRNA vaccines, saying they can cause serious harm and death, especially among children, and called for their immediate withdrawal.

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, 2025Details: 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 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, 2025Details: 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 18Date of announcement: September 2, 2025Details: 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.

US FDA LAUNCHES FRESH SAFETY SCRUTINY OF APPROVED RSV THERAPIES FOR INFANTS

Date of announcement: December 9, 2025

Details: U.S. health regulators informed senior executives at Merck, Sanofi and AstraZeneca that their approved protective RSV treatments for infants would face fresh safety scrutiny following concerns raised by vaccine skeptics, multiple sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

US DROPS CHILDHOOD VACCINE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FLU, ROTAVIRUS, MENINGOCOCCAL, HEPATITIS A

Date of announcement: January 5, 2026

Details: The United States ends longstanding universal guidance for children to receive flu, rotavirus, meningococcal and hepatitis A vaccines, shifting them to shared clinical decision‑making. The decision was approved by Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill without the agency’s usual external expert review.

US FDA REVERSES COURSE ON MODERNA FLU VACCINE APPLICATION

Date of announcement: February 18, 2026

Details: Moderna said the U.S. FDA changed course and agreed to review a revised application for its new flu vaccine, a week after the agency refused to review the filing.

The FDA’s initial refusal and quick reversal fueled concerns about shifting vaccine policy under the Trump administration, which has included tighter scrutiny of mRNA‑based products. 

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh, Siddhi Mahatole, Padmanabhan Ananthan, Puyaan Singh and Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Bill Berkrot)