RFK Jr. Launches Federal Effort to Investigate Vaccine Injuries
WHO:
CNN - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
CNN - Dr. Peter Hotez is co-director of Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine.
CNN - Dr. Paul Offit is the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania.
WHAT:
CNN - The US Department of Health and Human Services launched a program this week to study and capture the breadth of vaccine injuries.
CNN - Kennedy stated, “We have not done the studies that need to be done to understand who’s vulnerable to those kind of injuries.”
CNN - Kennedy previewed the proposed changes during a speech before Children’s Health Defense on September 17.
CNN - Hotez noted that the US has the most advanced vaccine monitoring system in the world, capable of detecting extremely rare side effects, such as myocarditis in young men at a rate of about 1 in 20,000 and blood clots associated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at a rate of about 1 in 500,000.
CNN - HHS officials have publicly sparred with state authorities over how many people have died from measles this year.
CNN - The US Department of Health and Human Services launched a program to study and capture the breadth of vaccine injuries.
CNN - A new vaccine injury research center was unveiled during a visit to the US National Institutes of Health.
CNN - Kennedy stated, “Vaccine injury is an invisible disease, and it is purposely invisible.”
CNN - The federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System is described by Kennedy as “very bad.”
CNN - Pennsylvania has reported five measles-related deaths, all in unvaccinated people, amid more than 1,000 cases across the state.
WHERE:
CNN - The vaccine injury research center will be housed at the US National Institutes of Health.
CNN - Pennsylvania is currently experiencing the worst measles outbreak in decades.
WHY:
CNN - Kennedy claims that the initiative is another bid to restore public trust in health care institutions.
CNN - The initiative aims to restore public trust in health care institutions.
CNN - Kennedy claims that the current system does not adequately address vaccine injuries, which he argues are not being studied sufficiently.
HOW:
CNN - The program includes proposals to reform the federal system for reporting adverse events and reimburse doctors who report suspected vaccine injuries, which HHS said will “encourage” health care workers to make reports.
CNN - The program includes proposals to reform the federal system for reporting adverse events and to reimburse doctors who report suspected vaccine injuries.
CNN - Hotez noted that the US has the most advanced vaccine monitoring system in the world, capable of detecting extremely rare side effects.
(UPDATED October 9, 2026 00:00 UTC)
The US Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new program aimed at studying and capturing the extent of vaccine injuries, a move that Kennedy claims is intended to restore public trust in health care institutions. During a recent speech, he emphasized the need for more comprehensive studies to identify individuals who may be vulnerable to these injuries. The program also includes proposals to reform the federal system for reporting adverse events and to provide reimbursement to doctors who report suspected vaccine injuries, which HHS believes will encourage more health care workers to make these important reports.
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(UPDATED October 8, 2026 23:03 UTC)
The US Department of Health and Human Services has launched a new initiative to study vaccine injuries, unveiling a research center at the National Institutes of Health. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., emphasized the need for this program, stating that vaccine injury is an "invisible disease" that is often overlooked, while Pennsylvania faces its worst measles outbreak in decades, with five reported deaths among unvaccinated individuals. The initiative aims to restore public trust in healthcare institutions and includes proposals to reform the federal reporting system for adverse events and to reimburse doctors who report suspected vaccine injuries.