RFK Jr to cut staff at HHS office that promotes vaccines: report

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has initiated a restructuring plan that is reportedly going to lay off the entire staff at the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy, which oversees the National Vaccine Program.

On Friday, HHS announced that it would be laying off 10,000 additional workers after 10,000 have left after the Trump administration has taken office. As part of those layoffs, CBS News reports, the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) is going to have its entire staff cut.

OIDP, which operates under the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), oversees the National Vaccine Program, which coordinates federal agencies in vaccine development, safety oversight, and efforts to expand vaccine availability and use.

OIDP had around 60 employees at the end of the Biden administration, but the cuts are part of the Trump administration’s plan to consolidate multiple offices within OASH into a newly established agency under HHS, called the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).

According to an HHS fact sheet, AHA will also absorb the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Health Resources and Services Administration. Kennedy’s aides have reportedly revealed they have a fast timeline for launching AHA, with the goal being to implement it within the next 10 days.

OIDP was previously overseen under the Biden administration by former Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, a biological male who identifies as a woman. The office was responsible for initiatives such as the “Let’s Get Real” campaign, launched in the final days of the Biden administration, which provided resources to healthcare providers for talking to parents who are hesitant to vaccinate their children.