Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing a storm of bipartisan criticism and mounting concern from the medical community after a series of sweeping changes to the nation’s vaccine policy, igniting fears that decades of public health progress could be unraveled. In a tense three-hour Senate health committee hearing held on September 16, 2025, Kennedy was sharply questioned by both Republican and Democratic senators over his anti-vaccine campaign and controversial decisions since taking office.
Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) did not mince words, telling Kennedy, “You promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines. Since then, I’ve grown deeply concerned.” Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) was even more direct, accusing Kennedy of promoting “junk science and fringe conspiracies,” and warning, “Kids are going to die because of it.” According to The Washington Post, Kennedy responded combatively, doubling down on unfounded claims that mRNA vaccines are “deadly” and dismissing concerns about vaccine access as “crazy talk.”
At the heart of the controversy is Kennedy’s abrupt firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez, just 28 days after her confirmation. Monarez has accused Kennedy of waging “a deliberate effort to weaken America’s public health system and vaccine protections.” She alleges she was ousted for refusing to pre-approve recommendations from a vaccine advisory panel handpicked by Kennedy, stacked with individuals holding anti-vaccine views. The fallout was immediate: four senior CDC officials resigned in protest, and Kennedy dismissed the entire 17-member vaccine advisory panel, canceling $500 million in mRNA vaccine research and severely limiting access to Covid-19 shots.
The backlash from the medical and scientific community has been swift and severe. More than 20 health associations and medical groups, along with nine former CDC directors, have called for Kennedy’s resignation, warning that his “assault on science should alarm every American.” In Florida, the situation has escalated further, with Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo declaring the state will end vaccine mandates for schoolchildren. Ladapo, echoing Kennedy’s rhetoric, labeled Covid vaccines as “poison” and likened mandates to slavery—a position that has drawn sharp rebukes from public health advocates nationwide.
Former President Trump, while publicly supporting Kennedy, expressed unease about the growing restrictions on vaccines, stating, “I think you have to be very careful. Pure and simple, they work.” This rare note of caution from Trump underscores the gravity of the moment and the deep divisions even within the Republican Party regarding vaccine policy.
Editorials have not held back. The Philadelphia Inquirer described Kennedy as a “snake oil salesman” whose “willful pigheadedness” was on full display during the Senate hearing. The paper accused him of peddling misinformation, gutting medical research, and replacing federal experts “with unqualified lackeys.” The New York Post, while acknowledging the CDC needs sensible reform, argued that Kennedy’s goal is not reform but destruction: “With his tinfoil hat blocking out all sense, he aims to burn down the public health apparatus and rebuild it in his image.”
Columnists and experts have noted that Kennedy’s policies are already sowing confusion about vaccine access. New FDA rules now restrict Covid vaccines to those 65 and older or with underlying conditions, leading to widespread uncertainty. As reported by The Washington Post, many pharmacies require prescriptions, some aren’t stocking the shots, and millions of Americans are unsure whether they qualify or if the shots remain free. Vaccine specialist Paul Offit told The New Yorker that Kennedy “wants to create confusion, because it will lessen vaccine uptake.”
The implications extend far beyond Covid. According to The Atlantic, Kennedy’s handpicked vaccine advisory panel is poised to vote on restricting more immunizations, including those protecting infants against diseases like mumps, measles, rubella, and RSV. Public health experts warn that the infrastructure protecting Americans from infectious disease—built painstakingly over decades—is being dismantled at a pace that could take generations to repair.
Rochelle Walensky, former CDC director and now a professor at Harvard Medical School, published a detailed account on September 16, 2025, expressing her deep concern about the direction of vaccine policy under Kennedy. Walensky, who led the CDC during the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighted that the agency’s vaccination efforts prevented an estimated 3.2 million deaths and saved the country $1.15 trillion. She acknowledged the agency’s imperfections but warned that the current trajectory threatens to undo its lifesaving work.
Walensky outlined a series of alarming steps taken by Health and Human Services leadership: restricting Covid-19 vaccine access by age and risk factors, withdrawing $500 million in mRNA research funding, firing all expert members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and dismissing Susan Monarez for refusing to rubber-stamp the new panel’s recommendations. Conflicting guidance about vaccination during pregnancy and the stoking of fears about vaccine safety for children have only added to the confusion.
Two cornerstone programs, the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) and the Vaccines for Children Program (VFC), are now under threat. The VICP, established in 1986, protects vaccine makers and healthcare providers from most liability while ensuring compensation for rare vaccine injuries. Without it, Walensky warns, manufacturers might stop producing vaccines altogether—a scenario with historical precedent. The VFC, launched in 1993, provides free vaccines for under- or uninsured children, and is credited with preventing 472 million illnesses, 29.8 million hospitalizations, and saving $2.2 trillion. The newly reconstituted ACIP is now tasked with revising the list of vaccines covered, putting half the nation’s children at risk of losing access.
The consequences are already being felt. This year, the U.S. experienced its largest measles outbreak in 25 years, lasting over seven months and resulting in three deaths. During the crisis, Kennedy falsely claimed to have shipped vitamin A to Texas—a measure that never happened, as doctors knew it was ineffective. Despite the safe global record of hundreds of millions of MMR vaccine doses, Kennedy claimed, “There are adverse events from the vaccine. It causes deaths every year …” His boasts about the response, published in The Wall Street Journal, have been met with disbelief by public health experts.
Walensky lamented the politicization of vaccine decisions and the preventable deaths she fears will result from current policies. “Most of all, I am saddened by the preventable deaths that will follow, lives lost because decisions about our health and access to immunizations are being driven by politics and ideology rather than science,” she wrote. Despite the turmoil, she pointed out that 92% of parents still vaccinate their children—a fragile consensus now under threat.
As Kennedy’s aggressive moves continue to reverberate, the future of America’s public health infrastructure hangs in the balance. The coming months will reveal whether the nation’s longstanding commitment to science-based vaccine policy can withstand the current assault—or if, as many fear, the gains of generations will be lost.