For many Americans, it's not clear how easy getting a COVID-19 vaccination will be. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently said the shots are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women, usurping a decision normally made by scientific experts. Days later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said healthy children "may" get COVID-19 vaccinations, removing stronger language that they "should" get them — and CDC's website now has no advice for pregnant women. The biggest questions are whether people can get a vaccine even if it's not recommended for them — and if insurance will pay.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. In a 58-second video posted on the social media site X, Kennedy said he removed COVID-19 shots from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations for those groups. No one from the CDC was in the video. U.S. health officials, following recommendations by infectious disease experts, have been urging annual COVID-19 boosters for all Americans ages 6 months and older. A CDC scientific advisory panel is set to meets in June and will consider recommending vaccination for high-risk groups but still giving lower-risk people the choice in getting a shot. But Kennedy decided not to wait.

U.S. health officials are announcing an effort to phase out ingestible fluoride supplements used to strengthen children's teeth, citing possible health risks. The announcement Tuesday is the latest action by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. against a substance that has been a mainstay of dental care for decades. The Food and Drug Administration said it will conduct a scientific review of the products by late October with the aim of removing them from the market. Formally withdrawing medical products requires a lengthy rulemaking process that can take years. Instead, the FDA will ask manufacturers to voluntary pull their products.

U.S. health officials plan to phase out eight petroleum-based colors from the nation's food supply. The move would trigger an overhaul of scores of products on U.S. grocery store shelves. Details of the plan were expected to be announced Tuesday afternoon by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary. The FDA currently allows 36 color additives, including eight synthetic dyes. In January, the agency banned the color known as Red 3. Food producers would likely replace the dyes with natural substitutes.

A Democratic senator says she's worried about the fallout from a major overhaul and layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington says it doesn't take a genius to understand "pushing out 20,000 workers at our preeminent health agencies won't make Americans healthier." Murray says there will be fewer health services, more opportunities for disease to spread and longer waits for treatments. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday the department he oversees is inefficient. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota says the ramifications of Kennedy's plans for HHS are unclear and if something gets broken "we'll go back and try to fix" it.

The Food and Drug Administration is reinstating some of the hundreds of staffers it fired last week. That's according to agency employees who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The FDA callbacks are the latest example of the chaotic fallout from President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's sweeping cost-cutting effort. Many of the staffers getting their jobs back are responsible for reviewing medical devices and food ingredients. After last week's terminations, lobbyists for the device industry warned that the cuts would hurt companies and patients. The FDA's device program is heavily funded by companies that pay the agency to quickly review their products.

People with private health insurance would be able to pick up over-the-counter methods like condoms, the "morning after" pill and birth control pills for free under a new rule the White House proposed on Monday. Without a doctor's prescription, women may pay as much as $50 for "morning after" pills. And women who delay buying the medication in order to get a doctor's prescription could jeopardize the pill's effectiveness, since it is most likely to prevent a pregnancy within 72 hours after sex. The new rule would also require insurers to fully bear the cost of the once-a-day Opill, the only FDA-approved over-the-counter birth control pill.

Ultraprocessed foods make up the bulk of the U.S. food supply and most Americans don't go a day without eating some. The foods include sugary cereals, frozen dinners, soda, potato chips and ice cream. They've been linked to a host of negative health effects from obesity and diabetes to heart disease, depression, dementia and early death. But most research has found links, not proof, for those health consequences, making it difficult to target specific foods for reform or regulation. Food manufacturers argue that processing boosts food safety and supplies and offers a cheap, convenient way to provide a diverse and nutritious diet.

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the first menthol-flavored electronic cigarettes for adult smokers. Friday's action is the government's strongest acknowledgment that switching to flavored vaping can reduce the harms of smoking. The FDA authorized four menthol e-cigarettes from Njoy, the vaping brand recently acquired by tobacco giant Altria, which also makes Marlboro cigarettes. The decision gives new credibility to vaping companies' longstanding argument that their products can help blunt the toll of smoking. But parent groups and anti-tobacco advocates immediately criticized the decision, saying flavors like menthol are more popular with teens.

Erin Fox has tracked drug shortages for more than 20 years, and she sees no easy solutions for what has become a record run. The University of Utah Drug Information Service says total active shortages hit an all-time high of 323 earlier this year. That's up 85% from a 10-year low of 174, at the end of 2017. There have been 48 new shortages recorded through March. Fox is associate chief pharmacy officer at University of Utah Health. She sees some positive news developing, thanks to growing interest from Congress in the subject.