Sens. Markey, Schumer, Sanders Demand Transparency on CDC’s Delay of COVID-19 Vaccines for Children, Highlighting Concerning Pattern of Trump Administration Undermining[...]

Letter Text (PDF)

Washington (September 29, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey, top Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today wrote to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Erica Schwartz and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., calling for answers on the CDC's month-long delay in making COVID-19 vaccines available through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program.

As of September 23, CDC notified states and local partners that the vaccine ordering portal is open-nearly a month after the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved this season's vaccines, and during which the CDC offered no explanation for the delay. Concerningly, this delay follows a pattern of decisions by this Administration to undermine Americans' faith in and access to vaccines. The lawmakers demand an immediate public accounting of this delay, confirmation that the distribution will proceed without further interruption, and full explanation of what caused millions of low-income and uninsured children to wait for vaccines, heading into the fall respiratory illness season.

The lawmakers wrote, "The delays appear to be the latest in a pattern of eroding vaccine access under this Administration. In May 2025, Secretary Kennedy announced that the CDC would no longer recommend the COVID vaccine for healthy children. In August 2026, President Trump signed an executive order directing the splitting of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine into separate shots without scientific justification. Secretary Kennedy has also continued to champion unfounded vaccine skepticism in public forums, including delivering the keynote address this month at a conference hosted by Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine organization he helped found and previously led. Given this record, we are gravely concerned that this delay reflects the same hostility to vaccinations-whether through deliberate obstruction or negligence-rather than an administrative hiccup."

The lawmakers continued, "Every child deserves protection from dangerous preventable diseases, regardless of insurance status or their family's income. Thus far, CDC has yet to offer the public any reasonable justification for a month-long delay in making vaccines accessible through the VFC program. Any delay in the program's operation, particularly one that coincides with this Administration's broader repudiation of vaccines, creates an unacceptable disparity that may lead to illness or even death. With children's health on the line, we will not accept silence as a substitute for accountability."

The lawmakers request answers to the following questions by October 9, 2026:

1. Why did CDC take nearly four weeks after FDA approval to open ordering? Please provide a timeline comparing this year's procurement and ordering schedule to the previous three years.
2. Has any political appointee at HHS or CDC-including the Secretary or his direct reports-delayed, paused, or otherwise intervened in the vaccine procurement or ordering process for the VFC program? If so, identify who and describe the nature of the intervention. Please provide any relevant internal communications.
3. How and when did CDC communicate this delay and its resolution to state health departments and immunization managers?

Senator Markey has been a fierce opponent of the Trump administration's Make America Sick Agenda.

• In March, Senator Markey led the Massachusetts congressional delegation in demanding answers from the National Institutes of Health on clinical trial disruptions and cancelations.
• In March, Senator Markey and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director under President Joe Biden, published an op-ed in Newsweek titled, "America Is Getting Sicker, Not Healthier, Under Trump and RFK Jr." Senator Markey and Dr. Walensky detail the damage that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has done to Massachusetts' and the country's health infrastructure as he has sown seeds of distrust in medicine and science, particularly vaccines, and taken a sledgehammer to life-saving research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other health and research institutions.
• In February, Senator Markey released a statement following the release of documents indicating that Kennedy traveled to Samoa in 2019 to promote unscientific claims about vaccine safety. Kennedy's visit preceded a measles outbreak in Samoa that killed 83 people, mostly young children.
• • In August, Senator Markey released another statement following the release of new documents that revealed Kennedy traveled to Samoa in 2019 to promote disinformation about the measles vaccine. Senator Markey questioned the then-nominee at his January 30, 2025, confirmation hearing, where Kennedy lied to Senator Markey and Congress during his confirmation process; he said his trip to Samoa had "nothing to do with vaccines."
• In September 2025, Senator Markey called for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign in response to RFK Jr.'s irresponsible anti-vaccine rhetoric and dangerous public health policies.
• Senator Markey also released a tracker featuring a comprehensive list of Kennedy's dangerous actions since he was confirmed as HHS Secretary in February 2025.
• Senator Markey opposed Kennedy's nomination to be HHS Secretary.

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