A document the Department of Health and Human Services sent to lawmakers to support Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to change U.S. policy on covid vaccines cites scientific studies that are unpublished or under dispute and mischaracterizes others.

Three of the health secretary’s picks to replace fired members of an influential panel that sets U.S. vaccine policies have filed statements in court flagging concerns about vaccines.

Staff who provide data to the vaccine panel have been pushed aside, according to health officials, raising doubts about the availability of coronavirus and other vaccines.

Robert Malone, who believes the U.S. government has “reality-bending information-control capabilities,” will guide the future of American medical care.

The consists of scientists, public-health experts and physicians, including one criticized for spreading COVID-19 misinformation, conspiracy theories.

One of the new vaccine advisers picked by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has earned thousands of dollars as an expert witness in litigation against Merck’s Gardasil vaccine, court records show.

(Reuters) -U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s surprise ouster of a national vaccine advisory board, claiming it was "plagued with persistent conflicts of interest," puts new scrutiny on the group that recommends which shots should be administered to the American public.

A fired committee member who served on the panel since July 2024 said the decision to fire him and his colleagues came from "out of the blue."

The health secretary cited financial conflicts, but a White House official and someone familiar with his thinking said he was also concerned about ties to Democrats.

After federal health officials made abrupt changes to US Covid-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant women last month, there’s new confusion and uncertainty about who can get the shots — and some reports that patients were turned away when they tried to get vaccinated.