CINCINNATI — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sat for questions from U.S. Senators for nearly three hours Thursday.
Senators questioned the secretary about his history of challenging vaccine efficacy, recent shifts in the Centers for Disease Control and more.
Kennedy defended changes made under his tenure.
"We at HHS are enacting a once in a generation shift from a sick care system to a true healthcare system that tackles the root causes of chronic disease," he said.
We checked in with officials at the Hamilton County Health Department and Northern Kentucky Health Department, and were told that there has been a rapid shift in advice and policy from federal officials leading to uncertainty around vaccine distribution policy.
The COVID vaccine was a specific point of confusion for policy officials, especially for young people, so heading into flu season, we talked with former president of the Ohio Academy of Pediatrics' Ohio chapter, Chris Peltier.
WATCH: We talk with a local expert about vaccine policy changes and confusion
Peltier said many of the vaccines recommended for years remain the same, but the new version of the COVID vaccine has not been made available.
"The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is supposed to meet later this month, and there's been some different sets of guidelines," he said. "The Secretary of Health and Human Services has sort of released one set of guidelines. Medical societies including the American Academy of Pediatrics have come out with slightly different guidelines."
Peltier said official recommendations from the government determine access and affordability for many vaccines, and changes in policy causing confusion for parents and those seeking vaccines can lead to additional vaccine skepticism.
"We're frustrated, right? And, I'm a vaccine expert. If we're confused, I can't imagine how it is for parents," he said.
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Peltier urged parents to keep track of changes at the federal level as well as they can, and rely on academic institutions like the American Academy of Pediatrics for empirically proven medical information and guidance.
"We have the same goal. We want to protect kids. We want to keep kids healthy. It's just about sorting out and tuning out all of the noise," he said.
A Hamilton County Health Department representative sent us a trio of vaccine schedules for infants, children, and adults that have since been removed from the CDC website:
