U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra launches new push on vaccine injury compensation program
Kennedy has long argued that chemicals in vaccines are dangerous, though experts say there is no evidence of harm
Source: The Hindu · October 11, 2026 at 2:01 PM · AI-assisted report
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KUALA LUMPUR, 11 OCTOBER 2026 —
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday announced an agency‑wide effort to study and document health problems reported after vaccination, the Department of Health and Human Services said.
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The move is part of Kennedy’s long‑standing campaign to question vaccine safety and to reshape federal immunisation policy. It follows a series of actions taken since he assumed office of the Department of Health and Human Services, including the dismissal of all 17 independent expert members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee and the appointment of new panelists who share his anti‑vaccine views.
The new initiative centres on a National Institutes of Health clinic that opened on Monday to treat and study patients who report health problems after receiving vaccines, HHS said in a statement.
Additional measures include a proposal by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reimburse physicians for reporting suspected injuries to the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a CDC effort to update VAERS, and a requirement that electronic health records capture vaccine‑related adverse events.
The federal Vaccine Injury Table currently lists 14 compensable injuries across 16 vaccine types under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a no‑fault system in which claimants file against the government rather than vaccine manufacturers. Since the program’s inception in 1988, it has awarded roughly $5 billion in compensation for about 12,300 injury and death claims, according to the programme’s data.
Kennedy has repeatedly claimed that U.S. children receive too many vaccines, asserting that they get up to 90 doses before age 18 – a figure echoed by former President Donald Trump. The American Academy of Pediatrics counters that childhood vaccines are studied in placebo‑controlled and comparison‑group trials and are continuously monitored for safety after approval.
In January, the CDC announced a revised childhood vaccine schedule that reduced the number of recommended vaccines, dropping universal recommendations for flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B at birth, certain forms of meningitis and respiratory syncytial virus. A federal court issued a preliminary injunction in March blocking key parts of the proposed changes, finding that Kennedy and HHS had violated federal law in reshaping the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices.
The injunction has prevented the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices from holding meetings to make recommendations on immunisations that are often needed for insurance coverage.
Public‑health experts have warned that Kennedy’s actions are contributing to falling immunisation rates, particularly against measles, which has resurged in the United States since last year. The new NIH clinic and the broader reporting framework are intended, according to HHS, to “study and document any health problems reported after vaccination,” but critics argue the effort may further sow skepticism about vaccines.
The Department of Health and Human Services said the initiative will be implemented across the agency, with the NIH clinic serving as the focal point for patient treatment and data collection. The proposed CMS reimbursement for physicians reporting to VAERS and the electronic‑health‑record requirement are slated to take effect later this year, pending final regulatory approval.