Policies for vaccines against COVID-19 and measles, among other shots, have been updated.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and officials at the Department of Health and Human Services have changed recommendations and policies for multiple vaccines, including shots against COVID-19 and measles.
Here is what has changed so far.
COVID-19 Vaccines
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now calls for individuals to speak with a health care provider about risks and benefits before receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, a change approved on Oct. 6.
Kennedy wrote on X that the move amounted to “restoring informed consent.”
The CDC in May, under orders from Kennedy, stopped recommending COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women. But the agency still had near-universal recommendations in place.
The Food and Drug Administration later revoked emergency authorizations for the vaccines. The agency also approved four shots for narrower populations: those younger than 65 who have an underlying condition and all those 65 years of age and older.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) then told the CDC to update its guidance on COVID-19 vaccines to reclassify them as “shared clinical decision-making” vaccinations. Vaccines in this category are not routine or risk-based; rather, the decision to receive them should be “individually based and informed by a decision process between the health care provider and the patient or parent/guardian,” according to ACIP. Jim O’Neill, CDC acting director and Health and Human Services deputy secretary, approved the recommendation.
Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccine
President Donald Trump recently encouraged people to take separate vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella. Stand-alone options, though, are not currently available in the United States. O’Neill on Oct. 6 backed Trump and called on manufacturers to produce monovalent vaccines against the diseases.
Kennedy told a Senate panel on Sept. 4 that he did not expect a change to the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR).
The United States in 2025 has recorded the most cases of measles since 1992.
Kennedy said the vaccine limits the spread of measles and that people should get it. He also raised concerns about side effects, which can include seizures and pneumonia.
Officials in Texas, the state that has recorded the bulk of the cases, announced on Aug. 18 that the measles outbreak there is over. New cases have been cropping up in other states, including South Carolina.
