Whopper of the Week: Kennedy claims that COVID19 vaccines are accessible to all who want them

This week's Whopper: 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced last week that he fulfilled his promise to “keep [COVID19] vaccines accessible to people who want them, especially the vulnerable”. 

In summary:

Kennedy has not made COVID19 vaccines accessible to "people who want them, especially the vulnerable". He has made them less accessible to those who need them. His actions are in direct conflict with the scientific evidence demonstrating the safety and efficacy of COVID19 vaccines, as well as the recommendations from expert professionals. As shown in the graphic below, COVID19 has not disappeared, and yearly vaccines should be available to all without the added barriers that Kennedy has put into place. 

https://www.cdc.gov/acip/downloads/slides-2025-06-25-26/02-MacNeil-COVID-508.pdf

Why is this a Whopper?

Although the FDA has finally approved updated COVID19 vaccines for the fall, the guidelines for who can receive them have changed from anyone over the age of 6 months to only those over 65 years or for “people 12-64 with at least one underlying condition that puts them at high risk for severe outcomes from COVID19.”

Children and pregnant patients are vulnerable to severe COVID19, but only children or those who are pregnant and who have underlying conditions are eligible to be vaccinated without a prescription. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children over 6 months of age receive the COVID19 vaccine, period. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that all patients receive a COVID19 vaccine at any point during pregnancy, period.

In many states, other vulnerable people are being forced to get prescriptions, an unnecessary added barrier for vaccines that have been proven to be safe and effective. These include people in homes and workplaces who are at higher risk of being exposed to COVID19 or of infecting vulnerable people. Under the new federal policy, healthcare workers, long term care residents, inmates, young people in group homes, people who care for or live with medically vulnerable or elderly are no longer themselves eligible for the COVID19 vaccines.

How might this impact you?

The new vaccine policies have created enormous confusion for the public, for health care providers and for states. Questions include: who exactly is eligible, where people will be able to be vaccinated, whether prescriptions are necessary, whether vaccines will be covered by insurance, who is legally liable, how much vaccines will cost, and what states can legally do to protect their citizens. These are unanswered questions that the federal government should have anticipated in advance of its policy change.

While doctors can legally prescribe vaccinations “off-label” for people who do not have the qualifying underlying conditions, those vaccinations may not be covered by insurance and could cost individuals upwards of $200. By law, if the CDC does not recommend a vaccine for a given population, insurers are not required to cover them. Similarly, coverage for Medicaid and CHIP programs are tied to recommendations made by CDC and ACIP. The Kaiser Family Foundation warns that “consumers could lose access to no-cost health insurance coverage of vaccines.”

There are many Americans who do not have a primary care provider because of the lack of health insurance and a shortage of primary care physicians, and rely on urgent care and emergency rooms. These are not places that routinely stock or prescribe COVID19 vaccines. Moreover, more Americans risk losing Medicaid under the 2026 federal budget bill. If they cannot obtain vaccines through a pharmacy, many patients will not have the option to obtain it from a doctor’s office either. Some people will skip because they cannot take off work for a doctor’s visit. 

Contributors to this post are: Benedicte Callan, PhD; Aurora Horstcamp, MD; and Miriam Rabkin, MD, MPH.