Welcome to the Vaccine Free-for-All

Radio Atlantic

The Atlantic

Politics, News, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. works to dismantle the national vaccine infrastructure, states have started going their own way. Governors in California, Washington State, and Oregon said they intend to coordinate on vaccine policies. Florida’s surgeon general went in the opposite direction, announcing a plan to end all state vaccine mandates, which he compared to “slavery.” We talk to the Atlantic science writer Katie Wu about how Kennedy’s decisions are affecting the vaccine pipeline and how difficult it will be to rebuild. We also talk about what you, the patient, should do in an atmosphere where the federal government, long the authority on vaccines, is no longer reliable. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Okay, so what if you could listen to all your books, docs, PDFs, and articles?
0:04.6	Well, you can.
0:05.8	With the 11 Reader app, you can turn anything into natural-sounding voice, like this one.
0:11.4	So download 11 Reader for free Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. into the MAGAverse.
0:37.9	I'm going to let him go wild on health. I'm going to let him go wild on the food.
0:42.2	I'm going to let him go wild on medicines. Wild on medicines. Or more accurately, vaccines.
0:51.0	That has been apparent over the past couple of months. There is unease, if not panic in the
0:57.4	medical community after HHS Secretary Robert of Kennedy Jr. ousted the entire CDC vaccine
1:04.0	advisory committee. In Texas, an unvaccinated child has died from measles. The first death
1:09.9	from the disease in a decade comes
1:11.9	amid a growing outbreak in Texas. Confusion about who can access vaccines mirrors chaos at the CDC.
1:19.3	The White House named a new interim head of the agency with no medical background, prompting
1:24.6	the resignation of four senior officials at the CDC.
1:28.2	I'm Hannah Rosen. This is Radio Atlantic.
1:32.7	Recently, the FDA limited the next round of COVID vaccines to people 65 plus or at risk of serious
1:39.7	health complications. And then last week, the administration fired the director of the Centers for Disease
1:46.0	Control, and then several key officials resigned in protest. Now, if you're visiting the doctor this
1:51.8	month, you're not likely to immediately notice these changes. But behind the scenes, the American
1:58.6	vaccine infrastructure that has been in place for decades is coming apart.
2:03.2	And that could have massive consequences.
2:06.4	To explain exactly how we have science writer Katie Wu.
2:14.7	Katie, welcome back to Radio Atlantic.
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