Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy boasted about fulfilling his pledge to end COVID vaccine mandates after the Food and Drug Administration announced new restrictions on the shots.
Kennedy posted on X that he had kept his promises to end the mandates, keep vaccines available to the vulnerable, demand placebo-controlled trials, and put a lid on the COVID emergency.
It came on Wednesday amid reports that the new head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Susan Monarez, had been ousted amid disagreements over Kennedy’s vaccine policies.
RFK Jr. took his victory lap after the FDA approved new COVID-19 vaccines for the fall season, but with some caveats.
I promised 4 things: 1. to end covid vaccine mandates. 2. to keep vaccines available to people who want them, especially the vulnerable. 3. to demand placebo-controlled trials from companies. 4. to end the emergency. In a series of FDA actions today we accomplished…
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) August 27, 2025
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been approved for use in Americans aged 65 and older.
Those between the ages of 5 and 64 must have a minimum of one underlying medical condition that puts them at risk of developing severe illness from COVID to be immediately eligible for the shot.
Healthy children can still get the vaccine, but only after consulting a medical provider.
“The emergency use authorizations for Covid vaccines, once used to justify broad mandates on the general public during the Biden administration, are now rescinded,” RFK Jr. wrote in a post on X.
In the same post, Kennedy wrote that the Moderna shot would be available for children 6 months and older, while kids 5 years and older can receive the Pfizer shot, and those 12 years and older can receive the Novavax shot.
These age requirements only apply to high-risk children.
The 2025-2026 vaccine will target the LP.8.1 variant, the companies said in a press release. This sublineage makes up almost a third of all cases.
These new restrictions mark the strictest yet for COVID-19 vaccinations. They come on the heels of an exclusive Daily Beast report detailing Kennedy’s eyeing of a total removal of the shots from the market.
Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist and close associate of RFK Jr., claimed that the Trump administration would move to pull the vaccine “within months.”
Malhotra said a 2022 peer-reviewed paper by a group of physicians, university professors, and researchers has driven much of the skepticism around the vaccine among RFK Jr.’s circle.
The paper, which appeared in the journal Vaccine, said those who receive the mRNA vaccine are at a 16 percent greater risk of “excess serious adverse events,” compared to those in the placebo group.
The study has been criticized by some in the medical community, who argue that it underestimates the benefits and overemphasizes the risks, attributing this to biased data selection and methodological flaws.
In addition, Americans may be paying more than ever for the vaccines.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel would typically meet after an FDA approval to make recommendations on the vaccine’s use.
However, in June, Kennedy fired all 17 members of the advisory panel.
According to a Washington Post report, the Director of the CDC, Susan Monarez, was ousted on Wednesday.
Insurers rely on this panel to decide on what they will and won’t cover.
According to the CDC’s vaccine price list, a COVID-19 vaccine could cost over $140 for just one dose in the private sector.
In a statement to The New York Times, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, which covers 1 in 3 Americans, will continue to check the federal government’s guidelines on immunizations.
In states like California, Florida, and Massachusetts, laws require that pharmacy staff can only administer vaccinations recommended by the CDC.
The post RFK Jr. Celebrates as FDA Ends COVID Vaccine Mandate appeared first on The Daily Beast.
