{
  "id": 12979283,
  "title": "US health secretary Kennedy launches new push on vaccine injuries",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/us-health-secretary-kennedy-launches-new-push-on-vaccine-injuries",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-08T23:34:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Jerusalem Post",
    "slug": "jerusalem-post",
    "url": "https://www.jpost.com/international/article-911123"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched a comprehensive effort to investigate and record any health issues reported following vaccination, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. This initiative marks the latest move by Kennedy, who has long questioned vaccine safety and founded an anti-vaccine group prior to his current role, to alter federal immunization policies.\n\nThe American Academy of Pediatrics asserts that childhood vaccines undergo rigorous testing in placebo-controlled and comparison-group trials and are continuously monitored for safety post-approval. The federal Vaccine Injury Table identifies 14 compensable injuries across 16 vaccine types under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a no-fault system where claimants file against the government rather than vaccine manufacturers. Since 1988, the program has paid out approximately $5 billion in compensation for around 12,300 injury and death claims.\n\nKennedy's new actions, which seem to be part of his long-standing efforts to question vaccines, come amid legal challenges to his attempts to modify US childhood vaccination schedules and growing concerns among public health experts about declining immunization rates, especially for measles, which has resurfaced in the US since last year.\n\nCentral to Kennedy's initiative is a new National Institutes of Health clinic established on Monday to treat and research patients who experience health problems after receiving vaccines. Additional measures include a proposal by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reimburse physicians for reporting suspected injuries to the CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a proposed update to VAERS by the CDC, and HHS mandating electronic health records to document vaccine-related adverse events.\n\nRobert F. Kennedy Jr. has argued that US children receive excessive vaccine doses, falsely claiming they can receive up to 90 doses by age 18—a claim echoed by President Donald Trump. He has also contended that vaccine chemicals are harmful, despite expert testimony to the contrary. In his first year as HHS secretary, Kennedy dismissed all 17 independent experts from the CDC's vaccine advisory committee and replaced them with new members, many of whom shared his anti-vaccine stance.\n\nIn January, the CDC unveiled a revised childhood vaccine schedule, reducing recommended vaccines and eliminating universal recommendations for flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B at birth, several types of meningitis, and respiratory syncytial virus. However, a federal court issued a preliminary injunction in March blocking several key aspects of the proposed changes, ruling that Kennedy and HHS had violated federal law in restructuring the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. This injunction has halted ACIP meetings to discuss immunization recommendations necessary for insurance coverage.",
  "summary": "The initiative is the latest step by Kennedy, who spent years questioning vaccine safety and founded an anti-vaccine group before taking office, to reshape federal immunization policy.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "NPR Health",
        "title": "Health Secretary Kennedy touts an initiative to study vaccine safety",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/health-secretary-kennedy-touts-an-initiative-to-study-vaccine-safety",
        "published": "2026-10-08T21:19:19.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}