Opinion: RFK Jr. eroded trust by making COID vaccine decisions with no transparency

Viewpoint: Eroding trust by making COVID vaccine decisions with no transparency The threat to Americans' access to lifesaving vaccines has arrived.  CIDRAP

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In the past, vaccine use recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while not always free from criticism, were based on a thorough, public review of relevant evidence as part of the "evidence to recommendation framework." The recommendations serve as guidance—to the frontlines of healthcare, to state-based immunization programs, and to the American public. Any resulting "mandates" are dictated by the states, not the federal government. Federal vaccine recommendations also provide guidance about insurance coverage for vaccines. 

Without that endorsement, insurers may choose to drop a vaccine in their scope of benefits, thereby limiting a patient's choice by eliminating affordable and convenient access.

A departure from practice and prudence

On May 27, flanked by the leaders of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a 58-second video posted to X that the COVID vaccine had been removed from the CDC's recommended immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women. One headline splashed, "CDC removes COVID vaccine recommendation for healthy children and pregnant women." In reality, the secretary took this unilateral action without CDC leadership present, without CDC advisory engagement, and without informing the CDC in advance. 

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