Top Senate Dems press HHS about delayed COVID shots for low-income children

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National Headlines September 29 2026

National Headlines September 29 2026

Top Senate Democrats are pressing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) about an apparent delay in making COVID-19 shots available through a federal program for low-income children. 

In a letter to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Erica Schwartz and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) demanded answers about why the agency waited nearly a month after they were approved to make the shots available through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program. 

The VFC offers free immunizations to more than half of U.S. children, including those who are covered by Medicaid, the uninsured or underinsured, and Native Americans and Alaska Natives. 

“CDC’s delay has left millions of children who rely on the VFC program........

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