FDA ends broad Covid vaccine authorization as RFK Jr. limits access to immunizations
Source: CNBC
Published Wed, Aug 27 2025 12:54 PM EDT Updated 7 Min Ago
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday ended its broader authorization of Covid vaccines in the U.S., only clearing shots for people at higher risk of severe illness. The move could complicate access to the shots for millions of Americans, and raises questions about whether insurance plans will still cover them for healthy adults.
The emergency use authorizations for Covid vaccines, once used to justify broad mandates on the general public during the Biden administration, are now rescinded, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a post on X.
The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense, he said. This framework delivers all three.
It follows several efforts by Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic, to change and undermine immunizations in the U.S. The new limited authorizations are a break from U.S. vaccine policy in previous years, which recommended an annual Covid shot for all Americans 6 months and up.
A key panel of vaccine advisors to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must vote to recommend the Covid shots. But Kennedy earlier this year gutted that panel and named new members, some of whom are widely known vaccine critics.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/27/fda-covid-vaccine-authorization--rfk.html
Article updated.
Previous article -
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday ended its broader authorization of Covid vaccines in the U.S., only clearing shots for people at higher risk of severe illness.
"The emergency use authorizations for Covid vaccines, once used to justify broad mandates on the general public during the Biden administration, are now rescinded," Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a post on X.
"The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense," he said. "This framework delivers all three."
It follows several efforts by Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic, to change and undermine immunizations in the U.S.
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Original article -
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.

lostincalifornia
(4,489 posts)bmichaelh
(945 posts)I would not be surprised if this is the first step to removing all COVID vaccines.
Historians evaluated Trump (1st Term) at the bottom in part due to his COVID response.
Some idiots are unable to learn from history.
Deep State Witch
(12,199 posts)They can't get away with banning them entirely, because there are still high-risk people like my husband.
AverageOldGuy
(2,961 posts)Oh, really??
Says Trump when asked about deploying the National Guard to Chicago.
spinbaby
(15,327 posts)Then other vaccines. I swear they want us dead.
KentuckyWoman
(7,282 posts)They want strong backs and no brains who will drop dead on the job and never cost cost any money for pesky things like retirement or medical care.
Marthe48
(21,833 posts)Virus and bacteria don't know the difference between rfk, traitor felon, their supporters and the people who do all they can to be alive for their loved ones.
Guess who I hope and pray succumbs to anything asap.
GiqueCee
(2,824 posts)Last edited Thu Aug 28, 2025, 08:48 AM - Edit history (1)
... and those that I know well enough to avoid, all share what I believe to be undiagnosed Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and they are immovable on their witless certainty that they are right, regardless of evidence to the contrary.
RFK, jr. is a sad, weak little man unable to bear living in the shadow of his father and uncle, so he seeks to destroy the world, or at least any part of it he can poison with his diseased beliefs, just for the attention. The sooner the world is rid of him, the better off we'll all be.
It's a shame that worm didn't stick around for dessert.
travelingthrulife
(3,268 posts)I know someone with this disorder. They cannot be told what to do no matter how solid the advice They manufacture anger and reject the advice.
Lifetime toddlers.
Passages
(3,608 posts)underpants
(193,003 posts)lostincalifornia
(4,489 posts)"The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved updated Covid vaccines for the fall season that limit who can get the shots, the federal governments most restrictive policy since the vaccines became available.
The agency authorized the vaccines for people who are 65 and older, who are known to be more vulnerable to severe illness from Covid. Younger people would only be eligible if they have at least one underlying medical condition that put them at risk for severe disease, according to people notified of the approvals. Healthy children under 18 could still receive the shots if a medical provider is consulted.
People seeking the shots will soon face another hurdle. An influential advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must vote to recommend them. But that panels makeup shifted when Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unseated existing members, reduced the panels size and added some Covid vaccine opponents.
This would mark the first fall/winter season that Covid shots were not widely recommended to most people and children, pitting federal health officials in the Trump administration against several national medical groups that oppose the restrictions. In a break from tradition, the F.D.A. did not issue a news release on the approvals.
.......
Health insurers have so far made few changes in coverage and have said they expect to continue to support vaccination as a preventative measure, but whether coverage will change because of the new restrictions remains unknown. Medicaid coverage, which includes the Vaccines for Children Program that provides access to low-income and working-class families, generally hews to the C.D.C. recommendations.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/health/fda-covid-vaccines-rfk-jr.html
Here is the STAT News report on this"
FDA issues narrower approvals for Covid boosters, revokes emergency authorizations
Actions could make it more difficult to get young children vaccinated
"WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved updated Covid boosters, but removed emergency use authorizations for the vaccines, in a set of moves that could make the shots more difficult to obtain for children under 5, in particular.
The moves were announced by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, in a post on the social media site X. He portrayed the actions as fulfilling a campaign promise to reverse Covid-era policies while still allowing people to access vaccines.
I promised 4 things, Kennedy wrote. 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 all four goals. The emergency use authorizations for Covid vaccines, once used to justify broad mandates on the general public during the Biden administration, are now rescinded.
........
"Covid vaccine authorizations for all three available vaccines, Kennedy said, would now only be for higher risk individuals, including those over sixty-five and those who have risk factors for developing severe Covid. Kennedy said that the Moderna vaccine is approved for those older than six months, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for those older than five years, and the Novavax shot for those older than 12."
https://www.statnews.com/2025/08/27/fda-covid-vaccines-kennedy-rescinds-emergency-use-authorization/
Tumbulu
(6,585 posts)Blackjackdavey
(238 posts)Just to make sure everyone knows what this demand means, it means he is demanding companies intentionally give sick people treatment they know won't work. It is unethical, which is ofc why he needs to "demand" it. And probably why he wants to demand it. For the sake of "science."
yorkster
(3,389 posts)Damn you, you cynical bastard. And your
disgusting "boss".
EarlG
(23,182 posts)I guess now I'm just getting Covid. Fuck these people.
Attilatheblond
(7,263 posts)Guess Trump isn't killing the US economy fast enough for Putin and he was told to screw up harder.
BumRushDaShow
(160,228 posts)I try to time mine with the flu vax in October to give me "peak" effectiveness during the holidays and into the new year.
SickOfTheOnePct
(8,473 posts)Now that the approvals are done, they should be shipping almost immediately.
Lithos
(26,575 posts)Like the Flu, there is a "best-guess" booster which was to be released.
EarlG
(23,182 posts)Last year we had our boosters scheduled for the second week of September, but in his first week back at school my son got Covid. So he didn't get his booster at that time, but I got mine. (He got his booster in December/January so he's good for a while longer.) Since it had been a year, I started looking at getting a booster last week, but the CVS website said they were waiting for the updated version.
I guess this news means that I won't be able to get the updated version when it's available, since I'm not 65 and I don't have a serious health condition. Hopefully I won't end up with a serious health condition caused by the lack of a vaccine.
Lithos
(26,575 posts)They want to kill the next round of boosters. I'm in the same boat. I guess it's time to buy into Paxlovid.
You know that all of the people in Trump's circle will have the booster.
L-
lonely bird
(2,539 posts)Because I take Eliquis.
Kali
(56,454 posts)if you pay out of pocket
SickOfTheOnePct
(8,473 posts)It will just be a matter of whether or not it's covered by insurance, which if it isn't, will obviously be a barrier for many.
riversedge
(77,794 posts)and I will have to see if I qualify. I want one.
Trueblue Texan
(3,755 posts)I had to go to a Kroger pharmacy. (Texas) My usual pharmacy doesn't have them. And now it's possible they won't get them.
maxsolomon
(37,356 posts)What's next, take away Flu shots?
dweller
(27,120 posts)GB_RN
(3,439 posts)The obscenities and violations by Kennedy (and Cantaloupe Caligula, et al), visited upon the corpse of irony, well, that shit would have normal people sentenced to life. UNDER the jail.
bronxiteforever
(10,772 posts)Americans.
hadEnuf
(3,397 posts)And blame Democrats.
Cheezoholic
(3,293 posts)DFW
(58,932 posts)My wife, our daughter, and her two daughters in Germany are in no danger of missing out, and neither is my sister or brother back in the USA (over 65).
However, my US-based daughter, her husband and their two sons ARE in danger, as are my two American nephews. One of them is married with a son, so they are on the endangered list of vaccine exclusion as well.
If I have to fly the unprotected ones to Germany to get them vaccinated, I will, but there are about 200 million people whom I can't help. I hope the outcry is loud enough, although deaf people don't usually respond to noise, no matter how loud--just the vibrations.
BonnieJW
(3,015 posts)You don't even need a prescription
DFW
(58,932 posts)And my daughter and her boys would be a welcome visit for my wife. They are dual citizens, Germany/USA, so no cost to them, either. Of course, considering my German taxes, for which I get exactly zero in return, the cost is, effectively, to me, but if a few -cents of that go toward their (and our!) vaccines, fine with me.
SickOfTheOnePct
(8,473 posts)you could pay for the shots, which would be a lot less than flying them to Germany.
Anyone who wants the vaccine and either has insurance coverage or can pay for it can still get. What this does is give insurance companies an "out" to deny coverage for the shot.
DFW
(58,932 posts)It's the height of arrogance and cruelty to deny it primarily to those who can't afford it, but we can handle this as long as Trump doesn't pardon Martin Shkreli and appoint him Undersecretary of Disease and Contagion.
ImNotGod
(1,112 posts)Grokenstein
(6,141 posts)And like everything else krasnov and his goons do, it will harm/kill more of his (remaining) supporters than anyone else.
Continue masking, keep washing and avoid crowds (all if and whenever possible). Make it your goal to outlive krasnov AND the swine lurking behind him.
young_at_heart
(3,972 posts)I just can't believe what is happening...it's like a nightmare! I had Covid before and without Paxlovid I don't think I'd be here now. It's hard to know what to do!
BumRushDaShow
(160,228 posts)The restrictions are on younger groups who are probably the most "social", who might end up getting it and spreading it to their older family members/friends/neighbors, as well as younger children (a certain age range being particularly vulnerable but they don't seem to care about that ).
Botany
(75,307 posts)I think Trumps boss Vlad Putin wants that to happen.
crimycarny
(1,921 posts)Of all viruses, COVID-19 is one of the most unpredictable as to how severe or mild a case may be in a particular person, regardless of age. That is why vaccination is critical.
I have a firsthand observation of this. My MIL is in her 90s and vaccinated. She contracted COVID a few months ago and had a mild case. A friend of mine was in her 40s, healthy and athletic, with no pre-existing conditions. She wasn't vaccinated because all the misinformation terrified her. Her family was vaccinated, but she was the only one who wasn't. The entire family contracted COVID. Her family (husband and 3 children) had mild cases; she died.
Being under 65 with no pre-existing conditions doesn't spare you from death or long COVID. Stupid, stupid, STUPID! RJK Jr. is going to have blood on his hands just like he has for the measles outbreak in Samoa in 2019, which killed 83 people.
LudwigPastorius
(13,413 posts)The reason that most high risk people survived the pandemic was not just because they took the vaccine..it's because everyone took the vaccine.
This will directly lead to unnecessary death and suffering.
Robert F. Mengele Jr. needs to keep the experiments to himself, and leave us out of them!
3catwoman3
(27,706 posts)...WITH NO EXPERTISE AT ALL (yes, I'm shouting because I'm so damn mad) can impose his personal agenda on the whole effing country.
Bayard
(26,988 posts)trump obviously learned nothing from the first round of Covid, even when he got it himself. Biden brought it under control. I'm sure trump claims it was him though.
Things will get really bad if there's another epidemic. It will be icing on the cake for everything else that's screwed up now. Like someone else said--maybe that's the plan for blue state elections.
kimbutgar
(26,035 posts)With millions of Americans dying from unnecessary deaths. Because he ended necessary vaccines.
History will not be good to him for destroying the Kennedy name.
barbtries
(30,767 posts)Mr.Bee
(1,223 posts)Chakaconcarne
(2,768 posts)SickOfTheOnePct
(8,473 posts)littlemissmartypants
(29,805 posts)Getting stocked up on masks if you haven't already and investing in a long umbrella. Use the umbrella to keep people at a distance and as shield. Or a weapon if you need to.
Other alternatives are dye your hair grey and buy a fake ID and I'm not joking.
I am so sorry for all of those who want the shots, who need them and won't have the option.
I hope that our non-governmental infrastructure is willing to at least stock the vaccines and maybe offer them to everyone who wants one. I expect that those outside of the recommended cohort will have to pay a higher price because our health care system sucks and capitalism reigns. I also foresee a vaccine black market that I would start myself if I was able.
Of course, this also means that the virus is going to spread widely and continue to mutate wildly. The implications of that cannot be ignored. The virus won't care. Just like the regime doesn't.
If only there was a remedy that kills fascists, their ardent supporters and no one else.
Fuck these evil idiots into the deepest depths of hell.
May they get everything they deserve.
the nelm
(167 posts)It's a heck of a lotter cheaper for them to pay for immunizations as a preventative or for lessening Covid symptoms versus taking on the expense for severe Covid or Long Covid cases.
crimycarny
(1,921 posts)Both Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield of California have made public statements that they will continue to cover COVID shots for everyone. That tells me they understand that people not getting vaccinated are going to cost them a heck of a lot more money than those who do get vaccinated--which also tells me they are looking at the numbers and know the COVID vaccine works.
Marthe48
(21,833 posts)n/t
bmichaelh
(945 posts)Robert F Kennedy Jr stands for many things that contradicts what his family stood for.
For example, his uncle,. President John F Kennedy, signed the Vaccination Assistance Act.
His uncle, Senator Ted Kennedy, fought for universal healthcare.
MAHA will not save anybody with their special foods and their special diets.
His father could recite Aeschylus; doubt Trump has ever heard of him.
RFK Jr was parodied in The Simpsons last year.
There was a character called Robert F. Quimby Jr. who at a funeral blamed a death on vaccines..
The mayor also named Quimby responded:
"You shut up, Robert F. Quimby Jr.! You're an embarrassment to this family. And that's saying a lot!"
sheshe2
(93,782 posts)A Truck Full of Bodies Were getting a little bit more of a sense that this is the new normal.

A body is transferred from the hospital to the refrigerated truck parked on a side street. Workers are building a ramp to facilitate the transfer. Photo: Patrick Schnell, M.D.


The floors are covered with discarded protective equipment after patients in adjacent beds died within hours of each other. Photo: Patrick Schnell, M.D.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/new-york-refrigerated-truck-bodies.html
Looks like tsf and rfk junior are trying for a new worlds record!
Mysterian
(5,927 posts)Enough of this insanity!
Oppaloopa
(922 posts)I got rsv flu ammonia because I am getting more heart surgery soon the pharmacist said he can't even watch the news anymore.
ellie
(6,974 posts)garbage dump of an administration.
Karasu
(2,003 posts)about.
BidenRocks
(2,209 posts)I'll get mine, fuck the rest of you!
I am ready to lock and load!
I started training at the gym so I'll be in shape for the upcoming WAR!
There ain't no peace possible with a dicktator!
All they do is LIE!
The Wizard
(13,390 posts)Skittles
(167,452 posts)yeah THAT will end well
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(128,722 posts)Too bad the worm didn't eat more of his brain.
SpankMe
(3,599 posts)Is that brain-wormed piece of shit going to release detailed data on why he's limiting Covid vaccines? Will it stand up to peer review?
Can this new framework be ignored by states? Could a state authorize vaccines for anyone who wants it and who can pay for it (since insurance is no longer likely to cover it)?
I'd rather have a native American medicine woman as HHS secretary than this...creature.
Marthe48
(21,833 posts)How better to isolate a victim than to ruin their health, make them likely carriers of a feared disease? The abusers ruining the U.S. are isolating this country from friends, associates, and allies. People in other countries might feel sorry for the citizens who don't want this, but their corporations and governments don't trust our abilities in business and finance, world leaders don't trust us as allies, people don't feel safe visiting. This is what the abusive spouse does. How many of the people in the traitor felon gang are abusive in their personal relationships? They transferred their indecent behavior from personal to national, and as long as no one says no, they won't stop.
MadameButterfly
(3,547 posts)which the anti-vaccine people claimed took away their freedom to make their own healthcare choices. But not allowing vaccines takes away this freedom too.
One can argue that not getting a vaccine risks exposing others in an epidemic. You cannot make the reverse argument. If one gets the vaccine, even if science did eventually prove them unsafe (a hypothetical here), it would have not impact on those around them who don't get the vaccine.
They make the argument of freedom until they have power and then they impose their own mandate. Just like abortion was about state's rights until they had power, now they want to go national. Single Payer Healthcare is Communism but it is Trump who is nationalizing corporations and Federalizing cities at taxpayer expense.