RFK Jr.'s FDA issues updated approval for Covid-19 vaccines – with massive restrictions
Washington DC - The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved new Covid-19 vaccines, but bowed to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s demand that access be severely limited.
The FDA authorized updated Covid-19 vaccines, but restricted access to people who are 65-years-old or older and are more vulnerable to severe illness and death from the virus.
Exceptions are made for those younger than 65 if they have at least one underlying medical condition that puts them at risk.
Children under 18 must now consult a medical provider before they can be vaccinated.
RFK Jr. has stacked an important vaccine advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with Covid-19 vaccine skeptics, and unseated existing members who disagree with his views on vaccinations.
Over recent months, the HHS Secretary has taken an axe to research into vaccine research, particularly studies around mRNA technology, and is reportedly in talks with President Donald Trump to ban Covid-19 vaccines.
He touted his achievements in a Wednesday post on X, and reiterated his four promises: to end Covid-19 vaccination mandates, to keep vaccines available to those who need it, to demand placebo-controlled trials, and to "end the emergency."
"In a series of FDA actions today we accomplished all four goals," RFK Jr. said. "The emergency use authorizations for Covid vaccines, once used to justify broad mandates on the general public during the Biden administration, are now rescinded."
"These vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors. The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense. This framework delivers all three."
Experts have long warned that young people are also vulnerable to Covid and that attempts to portray vaccines as unsafe or harmful are largely unscientific.
Cover photo: AFP/Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images