RFK Jr's Sweeping Health Moves: From COVID Curbs to Texas Nutrition Laws

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. BioSnap a weekly updated Biography.

Robert F Kennedy Jr has dominated headlines this week as Health and Human Services Secretary making bold moves on several fronts and igniting controversy from Washington to Texas. Axios reports Kennedy announced a major restriction on COVID-19 vaccine eligibility just as the stratus variant surges. Adults under sixty-five now need at least one high-risk medical condition to qualify and access through pharmacies has been halted requiring a prescription after a doctor consult. The FDA's recent approval applies only to seniors and the high-risk, marking the first US fall with no widespread COVID vaccine recommendations since the vaccines rolled out. Kennedy posted on X rescinding emergency authorizations and emphasizing patient–doctor choice. Debate continues over insurance coverage and pharmacy access especially for young children, with CVS confirming vaccine availability now depends on state rules and doctor prescriptions according to the New York Times.

CBS News covered Kennedy's Texas press conference on rural health care Thursday where he called mass shootings a public health crisis and pointed to psychiatric drugs as potential root causes in gun violence. He stopped short of addressing gun control directly preferring to frame the epidemic through the lens of public health research.

Kennedy’s Texas swing garnered more attention when he and Governor Abbott celebrated sweeping nutrition reforms including new state laws barring soda and candy purchases for those on food assistance and pushing food additive transparency. The Texas Tribune quotes Kennedy praising Texas as trailblazing for his Make America Healthy Again agenda and supporting over-the-counter access to ivermectin for COVID—a stance that’s already lighting up social media and sparking medical debate. He took repeated shots at “medical tyranny” and insisted that only the sacred patient–doctor relationship should guide medical choices.

The sweeping nutrition initiative fits his push for radically simplified nutritional guidelines. According to UC Berkeley News new government recommendations may soon fit on just four pages with a rallying cry to eat whole food and forgo decades of granular scientific advice. This echoes Kennedy's larger criticism that past public health efforts have failed to reverse childhood obesity and chronic disease.

Meanwhile a leadership shakeup at the CDC has Kennedy’s office sending ripples through the scientific community. Media outlets including the Washington Post and CIDRAP report Kennedy’s deputy Jim O’Neill was named acting CDC director after the sudden resignation of longtime leaders. The scandal grew after Kennedy hired controversial researcher David Geier to revisit claims linking vaccines to autism with results promised in September. The move prompted Senator Bill Cassidy to demand that the CDC’s next vaccine advisory meeting be postponed pending further oversight. Politico Pro says Kennedy will testify before a Senate panel next week about the upheaval and his recent COVID policy moves.

On social media Kennedy remains highly active, promoting his MAHA agenda and responding to critics. Both his official HHS account and personal X feed frequently tout “patient choice” and Texas’s reforms with hashtags like #MakeAmericaHealthyAgain. Speculation swirled Wednesday on Bluesky and X about further nutrition and vaccine announcements expected as Congress gears up for hearings after Labor Day though final details are still unconfirmed.

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