House Appropriators Snub Kennedy, Include mRNA Vaccine Funding in Spending Bill + More
Source: Children’s Health Defense
House Appropriators Snub Kennedy, Include mRNA Vaccine Funding in Spending Bill
House appropriators have snubbed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. by including an amendment in their 2026 spending bill that specifically funds continued messenger RNA vaccine research, despite his effort to roll it back.
In August, Kennedy announced that the Center for Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of HHS, would no longer fund research related to mRNA vaccines, the technology used to develop COVID-19 shots. At the time, he said HHS would terminate 22 grants supporting development of mRNA vaccines, totaling nearly $500 million. He claimed the shots fail to protect people against respiratory illness, though studies dispute this.
In its amended spending package, passed Wednesday, the House Committee on Appropriations included $1.1 billion for “advanced research and development” at BARDA — “including of mRNA vaccines.” The legislation does not earmark a specific amount to be spent on mRNA vaccine research.
Prasad Regains Role as FDA’s Top Doctor, Scientist
Senior Food and Drug Administration official Vinay Prasad has reclaimed a role as the agency’s top doctor and scientist six weeks after his dramatic departure and one month after his surprising return to lead the regulator’s biologics medicine division.
On the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) website, Prasad, a physician and prolific researcher, is now listed as the agency’s chief medical and scientific officer in addition to his role as director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, or CBER. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the FDA’s parent agency, confirmed via email Prasad’s reappointment to his former role.
Prasad had held both titles before he was embroiled in controversy over the FDA’s handling of safety concerns surrounding gene therapies developed by biotechnology company Sarepta Therapeutics. His role leading the agency’s hard-line response drew conservative criticism, and overlapped with a pressure campaign waged against him by right-wing activist Laura Loomer.
Prasad resigned in late July, but rejoined the FDA less than two weeks later after agency head Martin Makary and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly advocated to the White House on his behalf.
FTC Investigating AI ‘Companion’ Chatbots Amid Growing Concern About Harm to Kids
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an investigation into seven tech companies around potential harms their artificial intelligence chatbots could cause to children and teenagers.
The inquiry focuses on AI chatbots that can serve as companions, which “effectively mimic human characteristics, emotions, and intentions, and generally are designed to communicate like a friend or confidant, which may prompt some users, especially children and teens, to trust and form relationships with chatbots,” the agency said in a statement Thursday.
The FTC sent order letters to Google parent company Alphabet; Character.AI; Instagram and its parent company, Meta; OpenAI; Snap; and Elon Musk’s xAI. The agency wants information about whether and how the firms measure the impact of their chatbots on young users and how they protect against and alert parents to potential risks.
The investigation comes amid rising concern around AI use by children and teens, following a string of lawsuits and reports accusing chatbots of being complicit in the suicide deaths, sexual exploitation and other harms to young people. That includes one lawsuit against OpenAI and two against Character.AI that remain ongoing even as the companies say they are continuing to build out additional features to protect users from harmful interactions with their bots.
Some RFK Jr. Allies See MAHA Strategy as ‘Missed Opportunity’
Tuesday’s long-awaited “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) report steered clear of calling for regulation of the pesticide and food industries, despite Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s belief that they are responsible for the childhood chronic disease epidemic.
The lack of inclusion of major reforms in the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy Report shows the limits of Kennedy’s MAHA movement within the traditional business-friendly Republican party.
The report identified four potential drivers behind the rise in childhood chronic disease among children, including poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity, chronic stress, and “a concerning trend of overprescribing medications to children.” Nutrition experts said the report was a missed opportunity, as did some MAHA allies.
Unlike Florida, Ohio Will Stay the Course on Vaccines, Governor Says
Ohio Capital Journal reported:
Ohio will continue promoting the benefits of vaccines and supporting vaccinations, despite some Republican leaders casting doubt on their legitimacy and Florida making an effort to ban requirements. Gov. Mike DeWine and Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff will continue following the decades of science that show vaccines are safe, DeWine’s team said.
The percentage of kids starting kindergarten with their vaccinations continues to decline on a state and national level for diseases like diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, mumps and polio. In the 2019-2020 school year, vaccination rates were at 89.9%, Vanderhoff said. Those numbers are now down to 85.4%, a 4.5% decrease over five years.
But state Rep. Beth Liston’s family is not one of the overall vaccine rate decreases.
“I get my kids every vaccine available,” Liston (D-Dublin) said. She is a pediatrician and is worried about anti-vaccine rhetoric across the country. “There are a lot of diseases that we can prevent, and a lot of health problems, including death, that… would have come from that, had we not had vaccines,” Liston said.
Virginia Drops Prescription Rule for Senior COVID Vaccines: What Changed?
Virginia seniors and adults with underlying health conditions will soon be able to get COVID-19 vaccines without a prescription under a new standing order from the state’s health commissioner. State Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Shelton told Senators on the Joint Subcommittee on Health and Human Resources Oversight Wednesday that she would issue a standing order on Thursday that would allow Virginians over the age of 65, or adults with underlying conditions, to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine without a prescription.
The announcement comes after some confusion emerged about vaccine access requirements in the state. Earlier this week, CBS 6 reported that everyone in Virginia who wanted an updated COVID-19 vaccine would need to first get a prescription.
However, after those stories aired, several viewers reached out and said they received an updated COVID booster without a prescription from Walgreens.
When CBS 6’s Melissa Hipolit reached out to the state to verify the story, she learned from the Virginia Department of Health Professions that Walgreens submitted a protocol to the Board of Nursing which authorizes a pharmacist to administer vaccines to adults.
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