Latest news with #ImmunizationandVaccinesforChildren
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
12 Department of Health and Human Services grants terminated in Arkansas
ARKANSAS (KNWA/KFTA) — Twelve Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grants have been terminated in Arkansas. In late March, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the changes, stating the department will be doing 'more with less.' HHS expects the changes will save $1.8 billion annually, but they also include major grant cuts nationwide, impacting the Natural State as well. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) received a $3 million NIH grant to study structural racism and healthcare access among older African American men. About $1 million remains unspent. The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) received more than $365 million in CDC grants for various public health programs, but all of these grants have since been terminated. In total, about $202.9 million was spent and $162.3 million remained unspent. The Arkansas Department of Health received over $365 million in CDC grants, all of which have since been terminated. $260.2 million went to the 2019 Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) program; $158.2 million was spent, leaving $102 million unspent. $64.6 million was granted for the Immunization and Vaccines for Children program; $26.6 million was used, with $38 million left unspent. $40.4 million was allocated to reduce COVID-19 disparities; $18 million was spent, with over $22 million unspent. DOGE planning to terminate more than $165M in grants to Arkansas services A spokesperson for ADH told KNWA/FOX24 that the grants were supplemental funding in immunizations, health disparities, and epidemiology and laboratory capacity (ELC) funding. 'We always understood these were temporary grants. The ADH is adjusting accordingly and is well equipped to serve Arkansans,' the spokesperson said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
San Diego County loses $40M in funds just before new public health lab opens
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego County will not receive $40 million of public health funding promised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), County Supervisor and acting Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer announced Thursday in a news release. According to the release, the county was notified just last week that the CDC would pull back on multiple funding streams that were previously awarded through fiscal year 2025-2026. The impacted streams fall under the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) program, the Immunization and Vaccines for Children program, and the COVID-19 Health Disparities Grant. Local research on HIV, suicide prevention impacted by NIH grant cuts Lawson-Remer said the county was awarded $174 million, but recently learned that $40 million will no longer be available 'due to the CDC's abrupt 30-day closeout period.' The announcement comes just weeks before the county was preparing to debut its new Public Health Lab in May. The project was first announced years ago, and is slated to open in Kearny Mesa. The $93 million, 52,000-square-foot project was designed to expand the county's response to transmissible diseases and reduce the need for out-of-county corporate labs. It was funded, in part, by local dollars. However, the county supervisor said the lab needs federal support to ensure the facility will be able to provide services as planned. 'We built the lab. We planned responsibly. We kept our end of the deal. Now the federal government is walking away from theirs — and San Diego families are the ones paying the price,' said Lawson-Remer. 'This isn't just bad policy — it's sabotage disguised as efficiency, and it leaves San Diego taxpayers holding the bill.' The grants were meant to support $17 million in capital costs as well as lab equipment. Over 90 public health positions have been impacted by the cuts, according to the release. A few of the programs now at risk due to the lack of funding, according to Lawson-Remer, are a mobile testing unit for community outbreaks, in-shelter flu and hepatitis vaccinations, public health data system and staffing for epidemiologists and health investigators. The loss of grant funding underscores the local need for public health services. The county announced a large hepatitis A outbreak in March 2017, with some cases traced back to November 2016. Due to the scale of the outbreak, the county declared a local health emergency on Sept. 1, 2017. Before it officially was declared over on Jan. 23, 2018, the outbreak resulted in nearly 600 cases and 20 deaths. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
How Kennedy is already weakening America's childhood vaccine system
Last week, Jackie Griffith showed up at her office at the Collin County Health Care Clinic in north Texas ready to start her day — answering emails from local doctors before heading to a nearby high school to go over the latest vaccine record requirements. Instead, the 60-year-old registered nurse was called into her director's office and told to pack up her belongings. The federal government had yanked funding, she learned, and her position — supporting vaccination efforts for uninsured children through a network of more than 60 providers — was gone. Across the country in New Hampshire, Kayla Hogan, 27, was hearing the same. She worked for the state's Department of Health and Human Services, onboarding clinics and hospitals into a data system that would help them administer free childhood vaccines. Now that project was in jeopardy, threatening the process of getting children vaccinated. The cuts that ensnared Griffith, Hogan and many others whose work touches vaccines in dozens of states were part of $11.4 billion in funds that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Department of Health and Human Services pulled back from state and community health departments last week, included in the larger slashing of federal government under Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. More than $2 billion was taken from 'Immunization and Vaccines for Children' grants, which support the delivery of vaccines to children whose families may not be able to afford them, according to a list HHS published. Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist with a well-documented history of promoting misinformation, promised ahead of his confirmation as HHS secretary that he would not take away vaccines. Since taking office, however, he has repeatedly downplayed the severity of measles currently sweeping the country — outbreaks that have hospitalized scores of children and left at least two dead. He has publicly pushed unproven treatments, including vitamin A regimens that have reportedly sickened children, and offered limp public support for vaccines themselves — despite vaccines offering the safest, most effective way to prevent many infectious diseases. Under his leadership, HHS has overseen mass firings across federal health agencies, including staff responsible for outbreak response and vaccine access; canceled or postponed meetings of independent vaccine advisory committees; and ended vaccine education campaigns. The funding cuts under his watch go further, turning his rhetoric into reality and weakening the systems that deliver lifesaving preventative care. Through sweeping reductions to state and local health agencies, the new administration is quietly dismantling the fragile, interconnected infrastructure that moves childhood vaccines from the federal government to providers and, ultimately, to children. The cuts have hit health departments and medical providers, the data systems that track immunizations and the nonprofit coalitions that make the whole system run. They come at a moment when public health officials and advocates say that despite federal assurances, childhood vaccines are under attack. 'It will impact every aspect of immunization: community outreach, education, health fairs, mobile clinics and public health nurses,' said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers. 'It's catastrophic.' Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., sued HHS and Kennedy this week over the funding takebacks. HHS did not respond to a request for comment. Ostensibly, the federal cuts were aimed at Covid-era projects that were no longer necessary. 'The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,' the department's director of communications, Andrew Nixon, said last week. While an early wave of Covid funding focused on testing, vaccines and addressing health disparities, as the pandemic waned, state health departments were allowed to shift that money to other underfunded programs — including grants that support childhood vaccinations. Those grants supplement Vaccines for Children, a federal entitlement program established by Congress in 1994 in response to a deadly measles epidemic, which remains intact. But its successful operation relies on the 'Immunization and Vaccines for Children' funding, which received a temporary boost from reallocated Covid dollars — until that money was pulled back last week. Now, the cuts have forced public health departments across the country to lay off staff, cancel vaccine clinics, shut down education and outreach programs, and halt critical physical and virtual infrastructure upgrades, according to news reports, declarations filed in the federal lawsuit against HHS and results from a survey conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials and shared with NBC News. In Dallas County, Texas, the health director said the cuts compelled the cancellation of 50 community vaccination events — including many in schools with low measles vaccination rates amid a rising outbreak. In Minnesota, the Health Department announced it would lay off 170 employees after losing more than $220 million in federal funds. Among the casualties is the state's immunization registry, which will no longer be upgraded — leaving Minnesota with one of the most outdated tracking systems in the country. In California, the Health Department said in a federal filing that it would be unable to provide childhood vaccines, including for measles, to millions of children, roughly half of the state's youth. And in Washington state, the Health Department announced that in response to $20 million in grant cuts targeting immunization programs, it would furlough or lay off 46 workers and suspend its mobile clinic operation, known as the Care-a-Van. The 104 canceled clinics were expected to administer 2,000 vaccines to vulnerable kids, including those in rural areas and homeless populations. 'We're just going to have to think strategically about how we reach those really difficult-to-reach populations,' Lacy Fehrenbach, Washington's chief of prevention, said at a media briefing. The National Association of County and City Health Officials survey captured further impacts: A department in Ohio said it plans to halt training on vaccine hesitancy. One in Indiana will lose two nurses who travel to schools to vaccinate children, so parents don't have to miss work. A Texas agency will not be able to replace old equipment as planned. The cuts also threaten a less visible but critical part of the vaccine infrastructure: the data systems that public health departments use to record and share immunizations. Vaccines for Children relies on these systems to order doses, approve and track distribution, and monitor safety. Health departments in Pennsylvania and elsewhere said in declarations filed in the federal case that the cuts would prevent them from operating or upgrading these systems, forcing states to rely on outdated, cumbersome platforms. Poor data systems can leave parents and providers without access to vaccination records and increase the risk of missed or duplicate doses. Rebecca Coyle, executive director of the American Immunization Registry Association, noted that these systems were born out of a measles outbreak that claimed the lives of 89 children in the early 1990s, including an 11-year-old girl who died after being denied a vaccine — despite her father's efforts to get her immunized — because the clinic couldn't locate the right records. While much attention is given to parents who hesitate or outright refuse to vaccinate, it is the children without access to vaccines who offer the clearest path to closing immunity gaps, said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. 'The way we get from 60% of our population vaccinated to over 95% is by focusing on people who, for a variety of reasons, have difficulty getting vaccinated,' he said. 'That includes the homeless, low-income individuals, and people without a primary care provider.' These funding cuts, Benjamin said, degraded the ability to reach those populations 'literally overnight.' Immunization coalitions — nonprofits that connect public health departments with communities to improve vaccination rates — play a key role, too. Now their work mostly supported by state and federal dollars is at risk. The cuts caused 'immense damage' to Indiana's Immunization Coalition, according to its executive director, Lisa Robertson, who said in a statement that its budget — funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via the state Health Department — was slashed entirely for this year and reduced by 75% for the next fiscal year. 'The clawback of funds will have real-life consequences,' Robertson article was originally published on
NBC News
03-04-2025
- Health
- NBC News
How Kennedy is already weakening America's childhood vaccine system
Last week, Jackie Griffith showed up at her office at the Collin County Health Care Clinic in north Texas ready to start her day — answering emails from local doctors before heading to a nearby high school to go over the latest vaccine record requirements. Instead, the 60-year-old registered nurse was called into her director's office and told to pack up her belongings. The federal government had yanked funding, she learned, and her position — supporting vaccination efforts for uninsured children through a network of more than 60 providers — was gone. Across the country in New Hampshire, Kayla Hogan, 27, was hearing the same. She worked for the state's Department of Health and Human Services, onboarding clinics and hospitals into a data system that would help them administer free childhood vaccines. Now that project was in jeopardy, threatening the process of getting children vaccinated. The cuts that ensnared Griffith, Hogan and many others whose work touches vaccines in dozens of states were part of $11.4 billion in funds that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Department of Health and Human Services pulled back from state and community health departments last week, included in the larger slashing of federal government under Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. More than $2 billion was taken from 'Immunization and Vaccines for Children' grants, which support the delivery of vaccines to children whose families may not be able to afford them, according to a list HHS published. Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist with a well-documented history of promoting misinformation, promised ahead of his confirmation as HHS secretary that he would not take away vaccines. Since taking office, however, he has repeatedly downplayed the severity of measles currently sweeping the country — outbreaks that have hospitalized scores of children and left at least two dead. He has publicly pushed unproven treatments, including vitamin A regimens that have reportedly sickened children, and offered limp public support for vaccines themselves — despite vaccines offering the safest, most effective way to prevent many infectious diseases. Under his leadership, HHS has overseen mass firings across federal health agencies, including staff responsible for outbreak response and vaccine access; canceled or postponed meetings of independent vaccine advisory committees; and ended vaccine education campaigns. The funding cuts under his watch go further, turning his rhetoric into reality and weakening the systems that deliver lifesaving preventative care. Through sweeping reductions to state and local health agencies, the new administration is quietly dismantling the fragile, interconnected infrastructure that moves childhood vaccines from the federal government to providers and, ultimately, administered to children. The cuts have hit health departments and medical providers, the data systems that track immunizations and the nonprofit coalitions that make the whole system run. They come at a moment when public health officials and advocates say that despite federal assurances, childhood vaccines are under attack. 'It will impact every aspect of immunization: community outreach, education, health fairs, mobile clinics and public health nurses,' said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers. 'It's catastrophic.' Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., sued HHS and Kennedy this week over the funding takebacks. HHS did not respond to a request for comment. Ostensibly, the federal cuts were aimed at Covid-era projects that were no longer necessary. 'The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,' the department's director of communications, Andrew Nixon, said last week. While an early wave of Covid funding focused on testing, vaccines and addressing health disparities, as the pandemic waned, state health departments were allowed to shift that money to other underfunded programs — including grants that support childhood vaccinations. Those grants supplement Vaccines for Children, a federal entitlement program established by Congress in 1994 in response to a deadly measles epidemic, which remains intact. But its successful operation relies on the 'Immunization and Vaccines for Children' funding, which received a temporary boost from reallocated Covid dollars — until that money was pulled back last week. Now, the cuts have forced public health departments across the country to lay off staff, cancel vaccine clinics, shut down education and outreach programs, and halt critical physical and virtual infrastructure upgrades, according to news reports, declarations filed in the federal lawsuit against HHS and results from a survey conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials and shared with NBC News. In Dallas County, Texas, the health director said the cuts compelled the cancellation of 50 community vaccination events — including many in schools with low measles vaccination rates amid a rising outbreak. In Minnesota, the Health Department announced it would lay off 170 employees after losing more than $220 million in federal funds. Among the casualties is the state's immunization registry, which will no longer be upgraded — leaving Minnesota with one of the most outdated tracking systems in the country. In California, the Health Department said in a federal filing that it would be unable to provide childhood vaccines, including for measles, to millions of children, roughly half of the state's youth. And in Washington state, the Health Department announced that in response to $20 million in grant cuts targeting immunization programs, it would furlough or lay off 46 workers and suspend its mobile clinic operation, known as the Care-a-Van. The 104 canceled clinics were expected to administer 2,000 vaccines to vulnerable kids, including those in rural areas and homeless populations. 'We're just going to have to think strategically about how we reach those really difficult-to-reach populations,' Lacy Fehrenbach, Washington's chief of prevention, said at a media briefing. The National Association of County and City Health Officials survey captured further impacts: A department in Ohio said it plans to halt training on vaccine hesitancy. One in Indiana will lose two nurses who travel to schools to vaccinate children, so parents don't have to miss work. A Texas agency will not be able to replace old equipment as planned. The cuts also threaten a less visible but critical part of the vaccine infrastructure: the data systems that public health departments use to record and share immunizations. Vaccines for Children relies on these systems to order doses, approve and track distribution, and monitor safety. Health departments in Pennsylvania and elsewhere said in declarations filed in the federal case that the cuts would prevent them from operating or upgrading these systems, forcing states to rely on outdated, cumbersome platforms. Poor data systems can leave parents and providers without access to vaccination records and increase the risk of missed or duplicate doses. Rebecca Coyle, executive director of the American Immunization Registry Association, noted that these systems were born out of a measles outbreak that claimed the lives of 89 children in the early 1990s, including an 11-year-old girl who died after being denied a vaccine — despite her father's efforts to get her immunized — because the clinic couldn't locate the right records. While much attention is given to parents who hesitate or outright refuse to vaccinate, it is the children without access to vaccines who offer the clearest path to closing immunity gaps, said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. 'The way we get from 60% of our population vaccinated to over 95% is by focusing on people who, for a variety of reasons, have difficulty getting vaccinated,' he said. 'That includes the homeless, low-income individuals, and people without a primary care provider.' These funding cuts, Benjamin said, degraded the ability to reach those populations 'literally overnight.' Immunization coalitions — nonprofits that connect public health departments with communities to improve vaccination rates — play a key role, too. Now their work mostly supported by state and federal dollars is at risk. The cuts caused 'immense damage' to Indiana's Immunization Coalition, according to its executive director, Lisa Robertson, who said in a statement that its budget — funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via the state Health Department — was slashed entirely for this year and reduced by 75% for the next fiscal year. 'The clawback of funds will have real-life consequences,' Robertson said.
