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HHS Secretary RFK Jr. announced a sweeping vaccine-injury initiative, including a new NIH clinic and physician reimbursement for VAERS reporting. But public health experts and medical groups say the moves are scientifically flawed and will deepen vaccine hesitancy. The AMA and leading epidemiologists warn that undermining vaccine confidence risks fueling the return of preventable diseases.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled a major vaccine-injury initiative this week, including a new NIH clinic to study and care for patients with post-vaccination health problems, a proposed CMS reimbursement code for physicians who report suspected vaccine injuries to VAERS, a mandate for electronic health records to capture adverse events, and a broader VAERS modernization effort. Kennedy framed the moves as a way to "earn back trust" in public health institutions.
The response from the medical and public health community was largely critical. Experts argue the initiatives are scientifically unsound — VAERS, for instance, lacks an unvaccinated control group, making it unable to establish cause-and-effect relationships no matter how it's modernized. The AMA called for research "free from political influence," while vaccine safety experts at Johns Hopkins and the University of Arizona said the proposals don't address the core methodological gaps needed for rigorous safety science.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: Declining immunization rates are already driving a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases in the U.S. Experts warn that politically driven vaccine-safety narratives — even when framed as research — risk accelerating that trend and eroding decades of public health progress.
