President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are allegedly planning to ban the COVID vaccine “within months,” years after Trump labeled the vaccine’s development during the pandemic as a “monumental achievement,” according to an associate of Kennedy’s.
Newsweek reached out to HHS via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Trump said in December 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, that the development of a vaccine as part of Operation Warp Speed was a “historic” success.
He commended doctors, scientists, industry executives, and state and local leaders for expediting the process and mass distributing an initiative that later garnered criticism from a portion of his political base, along with questions and concerns about the vaccine’s efficacy and potential health impacts.
Kennedy has faced criticism from some for his past remarks about vaccine safety and efficacy, which have been labeled as misleading and false. He has stated he is not “anti-vaccine.”
Earlier this month, Kennedy announced a departmental decision to pull a total of $500 million in federal funding for 22 mRNA vaccine development projects “because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu.”
What To Know
The potential phasing out of the COVID-19 vaccine is coming in the next few months, Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist, vaccine skeptic and Kennedy associate, told the Daily Beast, adding that Kennedy’s stance is shared by “influential” members of Trump’s family.
Malhotra, a leading adviser to the lobby group MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Action, said that many of those closest to Kennedy have told him they “cannot understand” why the vaccine continues to be prescribed. The decision to remove the vaccine from the market “within months” is expected, despite the likelihood of causing “fear of chaos” and major legal ramifications, he added.
“It could [happen] in a number of stages, including learning more about the data,” Malhotra, who is not part of the Trump administration or HHS in any official capacity, said. “But given the increased talk of vaccine injuries in the past few weeks among the administration, it could also come with one clean decision.”
The White House denied Malhotra’s claims in a statement to Newsweek.
“The Administration is relying on Gold Standard Science and is committed to radical transparency to make decisions that affect all Americans,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told Newsweek on Monday. “Unless announced by the Administration, however, any discussion about HHS policy should be dismissed as baseless speculation.”
JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Malhotra backed up his allegations of COVID vaccine market removal by linking skeptics within Kennedy’s circle who derive views to a 2022 research paper in the journal Vaccine, which examined secondary analysis of “serious adverse events reported in clinical trials of Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in adults,” and said that those given the mRNA vaccines had a 16 percent higher risk of “excess serious adverse events” than those in the placebo group.
That study has been refuted by others within the scientific and medical community.
Trump Administration Promoting ‘Confusion’
The Trump administration, and more specifically HHS under the guidance of Kennedy, is causing “confusion” for Americans who just want the correct scientific and medical information at their disposal, Dr. Amy Bucher, chief behavioral officer at Lirio, told Newsweek.
“My professional view is a scientific consensus is that overall, vaccination is a good thing,” Bucher said. “It is important for public health; the benefits for most people outweigh the risks. And of course, there are individuals who have health histories where vaccination may be contraindicated. But that’s not the majority of people.
“What I’m seeing as a behavioral scientist is the lack of clarity from the administration and the willingness to change course on what they are calling accepted science. Sometimes they are correct and they’re converging with scientific consensus; other times [like with allegations that the COVID vaccine will go off market] they are not…It’s creating confusion in terms of people’s behavior.”
Political polarization and personal ideologies are impacting how Americans, whether pro- or anti-vaccine, view either medical advice or fuel conspiracy theories, Bucher added. She said she’s seen an intensification of how some individuals are doubling down on their views.
That may include individuals who are strongly pro-vaccine and get vaccinated for multiple reasons, while others may be vehemently opposed and do not get vaccinated against anything.
“We have decided that our tactic this year, given the environment, is really to emphasize on letting people know that they have a choice in whether they vaccinate or not,” Bucher said. “We have found that that tends to lower people’s defenses if they are subscribing to conspiracy theories or feeling hesitant about vaccines, to really push them without letting people know they have a choice, [to] create the type of reactants where where they feel like they have to defend their position.
“If you let them know it’s their choice, it helps people feel a little bit more open to information and willing to consider an actual choice as opposed to coming in with a predetermined course of action. But I am concerned that if there isn’t an actual choice anymore, if we do see something like COVID vaccines becoming completely off the market.”
Petition to Oust Kennedy
Kennedy’s views on vaccines, among other efforts involving public health protections on issues like food safety regulations and disease surveillance programs, have led to calls for his ousting as HHS head.
One such petition on Change.org has more than 45,000 signatures. It was started by the over 3,000 physicians and medical student members of Physicians for a Healthy Democracy, a national grassroots coalition.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump in December 2020: “From the instant the coronavirus invaded our shores, we raced into action to develop a safe and effective vaccine at breakneck speed. It would normally take five years, six years, seven years, or even more. In order to achieve this goal, we harnessed the full power of government, the genius of American scientists, and the might of American industry to save millions and millions of lives all over the world. We’re just days away from authorization from the FDA, and we’re pushing them hard, at which point we will immediately begin mass distribution.
“Before Operation Warp Speed, the typical timeframe for development and approval, as you know, could be infinity. And we were very, very happy that we were able to get things done at a level that nobody has ever seen before. The gold standard vaccine has been done in less than nine months.”
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on X earlier this month regarding mRNA vaccines: “We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted. BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu. We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”
Physicians for a Healthy Democracy, in its Change.org petition: “When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was nominated for Secretary of Health and Human Services, many of us warned this would be unwise. His decades-long crusade against vaccines, his embrace of conspiracy theories, and his ties to dangerous fringe groups made him unfit to lead America’s health agencies. We underestimated the damage one person could cause.”
What Happens Next
Currently, there is no policy in place to take the COVID-19 vaccine off the market.