Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the FDA revoked the emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a statement on X, Kennedy said he made four major promises: ending vaccine mandates, keeping vaccines available for those who want them, implementing placebo-controlled trials, and ending the emergency for COVID-19.
“In a series of FDA actions today we accomplished all four goals,” Kennedy said. “The emergency use authorizations for Covid vaccines, once used to justify broad mandates on the general public during the Biden administration, are now rescinded.”
“FDA has now issued marketing authorization for those at higher risk: Moderna (6+ months), Pfizer (5+), and Novavax (12+). These vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors,” he continued. “The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense. This framework delivers all three.”
While Kennedy provided the FDA update, pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced that the FDA approved its latest COVID-19 vaccines for older adults and children as young as five years old. “The FDA approval is based on the cumulative body of evidence supporting the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, including clinical trial data supporting the approval for children 5 through 11 years of age,” Pfizer said, adding that its vaccine “continues to demonstrate a favorable safety and efficacy profile supported by extensive real-world evidence as well as by clinical, non-clinical, pharmacovigilance, and manufacturing data.”
While the Trump administration has taken strides to move away from COVID-19 vaccines, some entities, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), have continued to push the inoculation. The group recently issued guidance recommending that children under two receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
