#VaccineSafety #RobertFKennedyJr #COVIDVaccineInjuries #CDC #VAERS #HHS #PostVaccineSyndrome #Myocarditis #VaccineCompensation #VaccineInjuryResearch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/strong> continues to raise concerns about vaccine risks, many public health experts say he\u2019s failing to lead meaningful reforms that could actually make vaccines safer<\/strong>. Instead, Kennedy has cut vital research initiatives, dismissed experienced scientists, and elevated voices long rejected by the scientific community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vaccine safety experts are sounding the alarm that these moves undermine decades of progress and leave vaccine-injured individuals with nowhere to turn \u2014 even as millions rely on vaccines for protection against serious illnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take Brianne Dressen<\/strong>, a preschool teacher who experienced debilitating symptoms after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine in 2020. Despite support from NIH researchers early on, the program investigating her case was abruptly shut down. Dozens of others reporting similar post-vaccine syndromes were left without care, answers, or federal recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The FDA later determined that Dressen\u2019s most common symptom, small-fiber neuropathy<\/strong>, appeared less often in vaccinated people than unvaccinated ones. However, researchers and patient advocates say that doesn’t invalidate her experience or the broader need for robust vaccine safety surveillance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under Kennedy\u2019s leadership, key vaccine safety infrastructure is being dismantled<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to experts, Kennedy is replacing data-driven approaches with ideological agendas<\/strong>. A spokesperson for HHS even called the CDC’s surveillance systems \u201ctemplates of regulatory malpractice\u201d and pledged to create new systems \u2014 but offered no specifics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Public health experts argue that vaccine safety systems \u2014 while imperfect \u2014 are critical and need more investment, not less<\/strong>. Researchers have urged Kennedy to expand rather than dismantle programs that protect public trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSpending money on vaccine safety isn\u2019t admitting vaccines are unsafe,\u201d said Y. Tony Yang, a health policy professor at George Washington University. \u201cIt\u2019s showing a commitment to making them better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dan Salmon of Johns Hopkins University added that the current $20 million annual budget for vaccine safety is \u201cwoefully inadequate<\/strong>\u201d to monitor all U.S. vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP)<\/strong>, created to support those injured by pandemic vaccines, has been widely criticized for being inaccessible and ineffective. Out of nearly 14,000 COVID vaccine-related claims<\/strong>, just 39 have been approved<\/strong>, and only five awards exceeded $10,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By contrast, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP)<\/strong> \u2014 established in 1988 \u2014 has paid out $4.8 billion for about 12,000 claims, mostly for childhood vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experts say the federal government must transition COVID vaccine injuries into the VICP<\/strong>, which is more robust and equitable. \u201cThe longer you hang these people out to dry, the more public trust erodes,\u201d said vaccine injury attorney Ren\u00e9e Gentry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Patients suffering long COVID-like symptoms<\/strong> after vaccination feel abandoned. Research projects that might explain their experiences \u2014 like those at Yale and NIH \u2014 remain underfunded or unpublished. Germany, by contrast, has reviewed nearly 1,000 post-vaccine syndrome cases, acknowledging potential patterns and supporting further investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s the crowd that wants mRNA vaccines banned \u2014 but that\u2019s not the answer,\u201d said Dressen, who now leads a patient support group that has raised over $1.2 million<\/strong> for medical care. \u201cVaccines aren\u2019t going away. But they need to be safer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some scientists suggest moving vaccine safety oversight out of HHS entirely. Inspired by models like the National Transportation Safety Board<\/strong>, such an independent agency could speed up research and improve transparency \u2014 critical to restoring public trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Kennedy reportedly supports the idea, critics fear his recent staffing and funding decisions signal a different direction: one that risks turning skepticism into institutional failure<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before it was canceled, an international vaccine safety consortium led by U.S. and Canadian scientists found seven genetic markers<\/strong> linked to increased myocarditis risk after mRNA COVID vaccines. The potential? A $6 genetic test<\/strong> that could identify vulnerable individuals in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the Trump administration, followed by Kennedy\u2019s leadership, withdrew funding<\/strong>, effectively shutting down the study. Researchers say the move not only wastes millions in progress \u2014 it delays life-saving discoveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The U.S. vaccine safety system has had real successes: it removed a dangerous rotavirus vaccine<\/strong> in 1999, flagged AstraZeneca’s and J&J\u2019s COVID vaccines<\/strong>, and helped detect myocarditis risk in young men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But vaccine science must evolve with new data and emerging challenges. Cutting funding, firing experts, and promoting outdated theories doesn\u2019t make vaccines safer \u2014 it makes the system weaker<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Robert F. Kennedy Jr. truly wants to protect public health, experts say, he must move beyond rhetoric and invest in evidence-based solutions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" #VaccineSafety #RobertFKennedyJr #COVIDVaccineInjuries #CDC #VAERS #HHS #PostVaccineSyndrome #Myocarditis #VaccineCompensation #VaccineInjuryResearch A Missed Opportunity for Safer Vaccines While U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to raise concerns about vaccine risks, many public health experts say he\u2019s failing to lead meaningful reforms that could actually make vaccines safer. Instead, Kennedy has cut […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1988,"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987\/revisions\/1988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportpro.cc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\n\nA Missed Opportunity for Safer Vaccines<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nReal Vaccine Injuries, Real Research Needs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCutting Critical Programs While Raising Alarms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\n\n\n\nScientists Call for Stronger, Not Weaker, Safety Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCompensation System: Broken and Unfair<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nDismissed and Ignored: Patients Left Without Support<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nA Call for Independent Oversight<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nGenetic Clues Could Make Vaccines Safer \u2014 But Research Halted<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nThe Bottom Line: Vaccine Safety Must Evolve<\/h3>\n\n\n\n