Overview

• At a contentious Senate hearing, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questioned evidence that COVID vaccines saved lives and alleged mRNA harms, drawing sharp rebukes from Sens. Mark Warner, Michael Bennet and physician Sen. John Barrasso.
• A ProPublica analysis reports more than 3,000 scientists and public health officials and about 1,000 inspectors have left CDC, NIH and FDA this year, with broader HHS cuts of roughly 20,000 staff reducing trials, inspections and disease surveillance.
• In late August, HHS restricted updated COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to people 65 and older, those six months and up with underlying conditions, or patients with a clinician’s recommendation, without consulting the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel.
• Kennedy dismissed CDC Director Susan Monarez after weeks in the role and removed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, with Jim O’Neill now serving as acting CDC director, according to reporting.
• Blue and purple states launched independent measures to maintain access—such as the West Coast Health Alliance and executive or standing orders in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Connecticut and Maine—while Florida moves to repeal school vaccine requirements and experts warn of outbreak risks, citing recent Texas measles cases and rising pertussis in Florida.