Claims from Kennedy ally spark uproar
The Trump administration is reportedly preparing to remove the COVID-19 vaccine from the U.S. market “within months,” according to controversial claims made by Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist and close adviser to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Malhotra, who advises the lobby group Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Action, told the Daily Beast that people close to Kennedy “cannot understand” why the vaccine is still being prescribed. He suggested a decision could come “within months,” either through a step-by-step process or a single sweeping order.
“It could [happen] in a number of stages, including learning more about the data,” Malhotra said, adding that the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is already reviewing reports of so-called “vaccine injuries.”
“But it could also come with one clean decision.”
Why Kennedy’s allies are pushing the move
Malhotra and Kennedy have repeatedly cited a 2022 study published in the journal Vaccine, which claimed that recipients of Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA shots faced a 16 percent higher risk of “excess serious adverse events” compared with placebo groups.
However, many leading scientists have dismissed the study as flawed and misleading, warning that it exaggerates risks while ignoring the overwhelming evidence that vaccines save lives.
Malhotra said Kennedy personally reached out to him in 2022 after reading his paper on “misinformation about the COVID mRNA vaccine,” calling him “courageous.” Since then, the two have become close allies, with Malhotra campaigning alongside Kennedy, joining him on hikes in Los Angeles, and preparing for a planned meeting with Donald Trump in September.
“I think [Trump will] get it, because it’s in his interest to,” Malhotra said. “He’s in a position to fix it. He can create a lasting legacy by doing so.”
Policy shifts and backlash
The controversy follows Kennedy’s recent decision, as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), to cancel $500 million in federal funding for mRNA vaccine development. Kennedy has gone further, calling the COVID shot “the deadliest vaccine ever made.”
His stance has triggered a wave of backlash across the scientific and medical community. More than 750 current and former staff members from the CDC, HHS, and NIH signed a public letter accusing Kennedy of spreading “dangerous misinformation” that undermines trust in vaccines and public health.
They also blamed his rhetoric for fueling hostility toward health officials, pointing to a deadly shooting at the CDC earlier this month as one tragic consequence.
What comes next?
If the administration were to pull the vaccines, it would likely trigger fierce legal battles, public protests, and international scrutiny. Experts warn that such a move could jeopardize public health and undermine years of pandemic recovery progress.
For now, no official policy has been announced, but the prospect of the U.S. withdrawing COVID-19 vaccines from the market has already sparked intense debate both inside Washington and within the global scientific community.
