About a year after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took office as U.S. secretary of health and human services, the CDC has rolled back several universal childhood immunization recommendations, and the administration has moved to claw back pandemic-era public health funds and unwind federal investments in mRNA vaccine development—steps that critics say conflict with Kennedy’s confirmation-hearing assurances on vaccines and vaccine-related funding.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as the 26th secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Feb. 13, 2025, in a White House ceremony, after the Senate confirmed him 52–48. (hhs.gov)
During Kennedy’s confirmation process, Democratic and Republican senators pressed him about his long record of vaccine skepticism and the potential impact on federal vaccine policy. Some lawmakers later said Kennedy had promised to keep the federal vaccine-advisory process and vaccine recommendations stable.
Changes to CDC vaccine guidance
In June 2025, Kennedy removed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a panel that reviews evidence and makes vaccine recommendations that typically guide clinical practice and insurance coverage. (cnbc.com)
In early January 2026, the federal government announced an overhaul of the childhood immunization schedule that reduced the number of vaccines recommended for all children. Under materials released by HHS and CDC, vaccines for influenza, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, COVID-19 and meningococcal disease were moved out of the “recommended for all children” category and placed into either high-risk recommendations or “shared clinical decision-making,” meaning vaccination would depend on individualized discussion between clinicians and families. (apnews.com)
Public health funding disputes and court challenges
In March 2025, the administration said it would revoke roughly $11.4 billion in unused COVID-era public health funding from state and local health departments and other recipients. HHS argued the pandemic was over and the grants were no longer necessary; public health leaders and Democratic-led states said the money supported broader disease surveillance and vaccination capacity and warned of cuts to core services. (cnbc.com)
A coalition of states and the District of Columbia sued, and a federal judge later extended a block preventing the administration from terminating the funding. (yahoo.com)
Research priorities: vaccine hesitancy grants and mRNA funding
In March 2025, The Washington Post reported that NIH moved to terminate or limit dozens of grants focused on vaccine hesitancy and vaccine uptake, citing internal communications describing the awards as misaligned with agency priorities. (washingtonpost.com)
Separately, HHS announced in August 2025 that it was winding down mRNA vaccine development activities under BARDA, affecting 22 projects worth “nearly $500 million,” according to the department. (hhs.gov)
Autism and vaccine claims
Kennedy has been a prominent figure in promoting claims about vaccines and autism that public health agencies and medical groups have repeatedly rejected. Large bodies of research over decades have found no causal link between vaccines and autism. A 1998 paper that suggested a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism was later retracted, and the lead author lost his medical license in the United Kingdom after findings of serious ethical and professional misconduct. (factcheck.org)
HHS did not respond in the available sources to all of the specific characterizations of changes described by critics, but the department has defended the broader policy shifts as efforts to rebuild trust and align recommendations with international practice while maintaining access and insurance coverage. (hhs.gov)
