FOR THE WEEK OF OCT. 06, 2025

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. puts federal childhood vaccine advice under review

The future of national vaccine policy is uncertain under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of immunization who is the president's secretary of health and human services. The federal government has canceled major contracts for vaccine research and development and limited access to updated versions of the coronavirus vaccine. In addition, Kennedy wants to change a childhood vaccine schedule that has been in place for decades. A federal Vaccines for Children program provides free shots to roughly half of all American children, for now. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that childhood vaccinations prevented 32 million hospitalizations from 1994 to 2003 and over 1 million deaths among youngsters.

Kennedy claims that some shots are risky and that requiring them to enroll in public school violates families’ freedom of choice. At a Senate hearing last month, the Cabinet member declined to say whether he thinks Covid shots are helpful. An advisory committee in Kennedy's agency, whose members he picked, recently voted 8-3 to recommend skipping a combination measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox vaccine until a child is at least 4. Previously, the first dose for either was recommended for toddlers at 12 to 15 months. The combined shot is associated with a 1-in-2,300 chance of seizures, which the panel said is reason to wait three more years.

Florida's governor, a Republican, wants to eliminate all vaccine requirements for public school kindergarteners. If legislators agree, that would end its mandatory shots for polio, tetanus, chicken pox, hepatitis B, and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). "People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions," says Florida's surgeon general, a top health official. "Government does not have that right.”

Elsewhere, some states set up their own advisory committees and coalitions to recommend childhood vaccine timing and try to assure non-prescription access to annual anti-Covid boosters. Democratic governors, noting that schools are a key place where diseases spread, embrace vaccines as ways to reduce illness or death from preventable diseases. Research shows that flu vaccines for children help safeguard adults. A Republican U.S. senator who's a doctor, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, is among official who back vaccines. "The best way to prevent the spread of measles is to get vaccinated," he said recently. In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey vows: "We won't let Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy get between patients and their doctors. When the federal government fails to protect public health, Massachusetts will step up to make sure people can continue to get the vaccines they need and want." A doctor in that state, Dr. Lamas of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, wrote in The New York Times last month: "There's a lot of uncertainty and confusion for public health in America."

Even President Trump has signaled partial disagreement with Kennedy, saying in September: "You have some vaccines that are so incredible. I think you have to be very careful when you say some people don't have to be vaccinated. . . . Look, you have vaccines that work. They just pure and simple work. They're not controversial at all, and I think those vaccines should be used, otherwise some people are going to catch it, and they endanger other people."

Health secretary says: "States have the authority to balance public health goals with individual freedom. Protecting both public health and personal liberty is how we restore faith in our institutions and Make America Healthy Again." – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Congresswoman says: "Children will die because of this decision [to delays shots]. These diseases have been nearly eradicated thanks to vaccines." – Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.

Doctor says: "We are watching the unraveling of the vaccine recommendation process at the CDC." – Dr. Dara Kass of Staten Island, N.Y., emergency physician and health policy consultant

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SL.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: An essay of a current news event is provided for discussion to encourage participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the article. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event within the news, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.