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Since 1955, when Congress passed the Polio Vaccination Assistance Act, the federal government has been in the business of expanding access to vaccines. That is, until this year.
2025 has been filled with almost daily news stories about federal agencies, under the direction of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., casting doubts about vaccine safety, including unsubstantiated claims about links to autism. These agencies have also been taking steps that could roll back access to vaccines, including for hepatitis B and COVID-19.
But we’ve found it very hard to sort out what these talking points and recommendations mean in practice. KFF Health News journalists Jackie Fortiér and Arthur Allen join Host Flora Lichtman to discuss, one year in, what this administration’s stance on vaccines has meant practically—for vaccine access, and vaccine uptake.
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Segment Guests
Arthur Allen
Arthur Allen is a senior correspondent at KFF Health News and author of Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver.
Jackie Fortiér
Jackie Fortiér is a Peggy Girshman fellow covering health policy at KFF Health News.
Segment Transcript
The transcript is being processed. It will be available 2-3 days after this story’s publication date.
Meet the Producers and Host
About John Dankosky
John Dankosky works with the radio team to create our weekly show, and is helping to build our State of Science Reporting Network. He’s also been a long-time guest host on Science Friday. He and his wife have three cats, thousands of bees, and a yoga studio in the sleepy Northwest hills of Connecticut.
About Flora Lichtman
Flora Lichtman is a host of Science Friday. In a previous life, she lived on a research ship where apertivi were served on the top deck, hoisted there via pulley by the ship’s chef.