Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is ending emergency declarations for COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and medical devices, after determining that the circumstances that resulted in the declarations are no longer in place.
The health secretary in office in early 2020 issued emergency declarations, providing liability protections for companies that made products for COVID-19 and enabling regulators to issue emergency authorizations, which have a lower evidentiary threshold than regular approval.
The declarations were extended multiple times, most recently in 2024 by then-Health Secretary Xavier Becerra through the end of 2029. They provided broad immunity to manufacturers of the products, as well as people who administered them to others….