AMNA NAWAZ: In a significant shift this week,# Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,## joined by FDA Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary and# NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, announced that## COVID-19 vaccines will no longer be recommended# for healthy children and pregnant individuals.

That sparked concerns from some# public health officials and## medical professionals.

But Commissioner# Makary has defended the new guidelines.

He joins us now to discuss that# and other major health news.

Commissioner, welcome to the "News Hour."

DR. MARTY MAKARY, FDA Commissioner:# Good to .. AMNA NAWAZ: Thanks for being here.

So let's start with that vaccine announ.. an end run around CDC that doesn't currently# have a permanent director.

There's an advisory## council on vaccinations that usually weighs# in on these decisions.

They are scheduled to## meet in late June.

Why not wait for them to# meet before making any kind of announcement?

DR. MARTY MAKARY: So most of America has# said no to the COVID booster last year.## About 85 percent of health care workers# refused the COVID booster last year.

And## very few children are getting the COVID booster.

For 88 percent of children, their parents said# no to the COVID booster.

So we can't have this## huge disconnect.

And the reality is people# want to either see more data or they have## some concerns.

And so we need to provide that# data for the public to make the case.

Right now,## when we came into office, there was this# absolute universal recommendation at the CDC.

And so the secretary consulted with a number# of physicians and decided that he wanted to## turn that decision back to a physician and the# patient.

And we would be more in line with Europe,## because, in the U.K., for example, they only# recommend the COVID booster if you're 75 years## of age and high-risk.

Or, in France,# it's 80 years of age and high-risk.

So we're really getting closer to the European## model.

And then the idea that you need a# COVID booster every year in perpetuity... DR. MARTY MAKARY: ... that is, a young baby born# today needs 80 shots in her average lifetime,## that was a theory, a theory that's not supported# with any randomized controlled trial data.

AMNA NAWAZ: So we know the uptake# has been low, as you mentioned,## but was there science and data behind this, or# was it just a decision to end the recommendation?

DR. MARTY MAKARY: Well, that's exactly the# problem, is that we don't have the data to## support that repeat vaccination booster strategy# every year in perpetuity.

If you get a hepatitis## A vaccine, it's one shot.

If you get a hepatitis# B or MMR, it's two, depending on the age group.

And so the idea that you need 80 shots in# your lifetime in the average lifespan of## a woman for the COVID booster is a theory# that's unsubstantiated.

Some have concerns.## there are still people who claim vaccine# injury.

I have heard of people who have## died from the vaccine.

It's rare, but# these are questions that the public has.

And so, at the FDA, we have done our job# to put out guidance in "The New England## Journal of Medicine" last week.

And that guidance# basically says, for young, healthy individuals,## we'd like to see -- this is a good time to check# in with a clinical trial to find whether or not## we should be pushing this, because the worst# thing you can do in public health is to put## out an absolute universal recommendation with such# urgency when the data really doesn't support it.

And the reality is, the data is mixed.

AMNA NAWAZ: I just want to show,## say too that the vaccine was proven.. DR. MARTY MAKARY: Four and five# years ago, four or five years ago.

(CROSSTALK) AMNA NAWAZ: Sure.. DR. MARTY MAKARY: In the first dose, yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: Ther.. momentum overseas, has now landed in the States.

Are you anticipating a summer uptick?# And if people choose to get the booster,## if they want to get it now, what does that# mean?

They have to pay for it out of pocket?

DR. MARTY MAKARY: Well, that's up to# every individual insurance company.

Again, vast majority of Americans have said no to# the COVID booster.

For those who want to get it,## they will be able to get it.

They're# still going to be vaccines available.

AMNA NAWAZ: But if it's not recommended,## it's likely not going to be# covered by insurance, correct?

DR. MARTY MAKARY: That's up to# insurance companies.

I mean,## I would love some cancer therapies to be# covered by certain insurance compan.. and they have chosen not to.

So I'm -- we're# going to turn this decision back to patients## and their doctors.

We're going to get# more in line with where the public is.

The sort of absolutism of you must get your COVID# shot every year, even if you're a young, healthy,## a 12-year-old girl, that disconnect, it's not# healthy to be that disconnected from the public.## And the reality is, we'd like to see a clinical# trial supporting that repeat booster strategy.

AMNA NAWAZ: I want to ask you about some# reporting just today from the news organization## NOTUS about that landmark MAHA report you put out# recently, the Make America Healthy Again report.

AMNA NAWAZ: They found that it cited a number# of sources that don't appear to exist at all,## at least one scientist's name included# on a paper she says she never wrote.

When we checked on the report later# today, it looked like it had been## updated.

Some of those false sources# and names were removed.

But what do## you want people to know about how that bad# information got in there in the first place?

DR. MARTY MAKARY: Well, there's# over 500 references and citations## in that report.

It's an incredible report.

Look, I have written medical journal# studies in the peer review literature and## some of the citations may not be perfect# in the way that they're described there.

AMNA NAWAZ: But do you include citations that# don't exist for sources that don't exist?

DR. MARTY MAKARY: I haven't# double-checked those citations,## but I can tell you that the content of that MAHA# Commission report is amazing... because now we're talking about# microplastics and pesticides and## seed oils and the fact that 70 percent of# the food consumed by kids is ultra-processed.

I don't think our obesity, diabetes epidemic# in children is a willpower problem.

I don't## think it's their fault.

I think this is# something we are doing to kids.

And this## report changes the entire discussion in health,# because we can talk about Medicare payment and## states and site-neutral payments, which# is a reform that Mehmet Oz has put forth.

But the ultimate driver of our health care# costs in America, of our health care crisis## and the affordability crisis and the health# disparities that result is the worsening## health of the population.

And we have not been# talking about the health of the population.

It has been a 50-year failure of American# health care.

American medicine is amazing,## high, sophisticated operations in... AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

DR. MARTY MAKARY..

But when it comes to the health of population,# it has been a 50-year failure.

And no one has## talked about root causes until this MAHA# Commission report.

It's unbelievable.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I know it is a priority for you# on this message, but to get back to the report... AMNA NAWAZ: ... if you want people to# trust what's in it, and there were false## sources and scientists who didn't work on these# papers, are you worried people won't trust it?

DR. MARTY MAKARY: Every one of those citations## that I read and every line# of that report was solid.

Now... AMNA NAWAZ: Exce.. DR. MARTY MAKARY: I took a hard look at that# report, and I thought, thi.. game-changing discussion that# for the first time in history## is talking about the fact that 40 percent# of American kids have a chronic disease.

What that means for the future of American# health care is very concerning.

And we can't## keep blaming kids for this problem.# At the FDA, we're doing our part of## that report.

We have taken action to remove# all nine petroleum-based food dyes from the## food supply so that kids don't have these# petroleum-based chemicals in their system.

We're doing an inventory of all chemicals,# including the 1,000-plus chemicals banned in## Europe that appear in the U.S. food supply.

Why?# And so we're asking big questions on root causes## that we have never asked before.

We have got to# talk about school lunches, not just chemotherapy.

DR. MARTY MAKARY: We have got to talk# about activity and chemicals and light## exposure in children, circadian rhythms.# All of it's in the report.

We can't just## keep talking about having every kid on Ozempic.

We're not on a good path, and this agenda, I# think, is laid out beautifully in the MAHA report.

AMNA NAWAZ: Commissioner, I want# to know what you're not sharing how## those false sources got in there,# but you're asking people to tr.. the information in there regardless.

We# can talk about that more another time.

I do want to ask you, though, about the last# time we talked.

I asked you about the medication## abortion mifepristone.

You said you had no plans# to pull access for that.

You were waiting to see## more data coming in to review it to see if you# make a decision or not.

Since we last spoke, have## you seen any additional information that tells# you have to make a decision one way or the other?

DR. MARTY MAKARY: I still have the same# view I had when we had that discussion,## and that is I have got no preconceived# plans to take action that drug.

We are constantly looking at new data as# it comes in, and I think we should.

I mean,## let's say there's a drug-drug# interaction that pops up in big## data analyses.

That's something that we# need to look at and pay attention to.

AMNA NAWAZ: You have described# yourself as a data guy, though.

DR. MARTY MAKARY: I'm a science guy.

AMNA NAWAZ: Will you hold up the# doze.. on the medication abortion mifepristone# over new information that comes in now?

DR. MARTY MAKARY: We have to look at all# data.

You can't say there's a sacred cow## thing that makes us be blind to certain# data, and that's for the same reason we are## at the FDA are saying in "The New England# Journal of Medicine" that we want to see## a clinical trial to support the infinite# booster strategy for young healthy people.

AMNA NAWAZ: FDA Commissioner Dr.# Marty Makary, thank you for your time.

DR. MARTY MAKARY: Thanks, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: We appreciate you being here.