Washington Post Wrong on ACIP’s COVID Vaccine Plan, HHS Insider Says

A Washington Post report this morning that U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “had a plan to target covid shots. Then it fell apart.” is incorrect, according to an inside source at HHS.

by Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D.

A Washington Post report this morning that U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “had a plan to target covid shots. Then it fell apart.” is incorrect, according to an inside source at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The source, who spoke with The Defender on the condition of anonymity, said the article in the Post contained “assumptions” and “significant errors.”

Because of the sensitivity of the situation, the individual declined to provide further details.

According to the Post, some members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) had been developing a plan to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccines. “That plan is no longer moving forward,” the Post reported.

ACIP is scheduled to meet March 18-19.

HHS Press Secretary Emily G. Hilliard declined to comment on whether committee members had planned to change COVID-19 recommendations. Instead, she told The Defender in an email:

“The committee has not reconsidered its September 2025 decision to classify COVID vaccines under shared clinical decision-making on the CDC immunization schedules.

“Additionally, the FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] and ACIP have consistently been aligned: the FDA’s approval of COVID vaccines for high-risk groups and the ACIP’s recommendation to include them on the immunization schedule under shared clinical decision-making, which means the decision to vaccinate is based upon individual patient characteristics, are compatible.”

Based on ACIP’s past practices, it would be unusual for the committee to vote on a new COVID-19 vaccine recommendation at the March meeting because the 2025-26 winter respiratory season has already passed.

Typically, ACIP votes on updated COVID-19 boosters and influenza vaccine formulations during summer or fall meetings, before the winter illness season.

ACIP last issued recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines at its Sept. 18, 2025, meeting.

ACIP wants to hear from people injured by COVID vaccines

The CDC has not yet released a detailed agenda for ACIP’s March meeting.

However, a Feb. 26 notice in the Federal Register stated that the committee plans to discuss and vote on recommendations related to COVID-19 vaccine injuries, long COVID and how the committee makes its recommendations.

Tuesday on X, ACIP Chair Kirk Milhoan reposted a report by journalist Maryanne Demasi on a new study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases that investigated both COVID-19 vaccine injuries and long COVID.

The study’s timing is relevant, Demasi wrote on Substack. “As evidence accumulates, the conversation is beginning to shift toward acknowledging that vaccine injuries are real and warrant serious scientific investigation.”

ACIP’s March meeting agenda signals a big change for the CDC committee that once rubber-stamped COVID-19 vaccines as safe and effective, according to Daniel O’Connor, founder and CEO of TrialSite News.

“When ACIP places ‘COVID-19 vaccine injuries’ and ‘recommendation methodology’ on the same agenda, it signals more than routine housekeeping — it signals an institution aware that its credibility now depends on demonstrable rigor, not repetition of past assurances,” O’Connor said.

Dr. Joel Wallskog, an orthopedic surgeon and co-chair of React19, said he was “encouraged” that ACIP planned to address COVID-19 vaccine injuries. He said many injured by the COVID-19 vaccines “feel abandoned by the systems that were meant to protect them.”

“These Americans deserve recognition,” he said. “They deserve accurate diagnoses, clearer clinical definitions of their conditions, access to providers who understand their injuries, and the development of science-based diagnostic and therapeutic protocols.”

The panel is inviting written and oral comments from the public. Specifically, the panel wants to hear from people who were injured by a COVID-19 vaccine.

Written comments or requests to speak must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. EDT March 12.

“If you or a loved one has been injured or killed, this is your moment to tell your story to a committee that is listening,” wrote Stephanie Locricchio, a senior advocacy manager at Children’s Health Defense.

ACIP also plans to hear updates from some of its workgroups. The committee has over a dozen workgroups focused on different vaccines.

The COVID-19 vaccines workgroup is led by Retsef Levi, Ph.D., professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and ACIP member.

The group is reviewing the risks and benefits of the vaccines, gaps in scientific knowledge about their safety and efficacy, data on adverse reactions, and whether safety precautions and contraindications are clearly communicated to vaccine recipients.

Vaccines ‘politically risky’ for midterm elections

Plans for ACIP’s March meeting may still change — the Federal Register noted that agenda items are “subject to change as priorities dictate.”

Hilliard said that the ACIP will post its final voting language “in accordance with normal committee procedures.”

ACIP typically posts anticipated votes on its website before the meeting, but it has not yet done so for the upcoming session.

The meeting comes amid political debate about vaccine policy and its possible impact on upcoming midterm elections.

In a December 2025 memo, Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio wrote that vaccine skepticism was “politically risky” for both major parties.

Candidates who support removing vaccine requirements will “pay a price” in the upcoming election, he said.

Court ruling could still shut down next ACIP meeting

ACIP is at the center of national conflict over U.S. vaccine policy. The panel usually meets three times a year to review scientific data on the risks and benefits of vaccines and issue vaccine recommendations.

The committee holds significant power when it comes to children’s vaccines.

That’s because federal law requires the federally funded Vaccines for Children Program to follow ACIP’s recommended vaccine schedule.

The HHS secretary also relies on ACIP’s recommendations when purchasing, distributing and paying for pediatric vaccines, according to Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

ACIP had originally planned to meet Feb. 25-27, but that meeting was canceled after the CDC missed the deadline for announcing it in the Federal Register.

HHS was also under legal pressure to cancel the meeting. In a lawsuit against HHS, the American Academy of Pediatrics asked a federal court for a preliminary injunction to prevent ACIP from holding its next meeting.

As of press time, U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy has not yet ruled on the request.

Related articles in The Defender

• COVID Vaccine Injuries to Take Center Stage at Upcoming ACIP Meeting

• ‘Expect Fireworks’: CDC Launches Group to Study COVID Vaccine Injuries, Efficacy

• 1 in 10 Adults Seriously Injured by a COVID Vaccine, New Survey Says

• ‘A Giant Problem’: Experts Address ‘Massive Epidemic of Vaccine Injury’

• He Had His Eye on the Major Leagues — Until a COVID Vaccine Injury Tanked His Career