US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has launched a federal programme to research vaccine injuries. The announcement came on October 8.

The programme includes a new clinic at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda. It opened on October 5. The clinic will study patients who report injuries linked to vaccines.

The initiative also plans to modernise the VAERS reporting system. A new billing code will let doctors report suspected vaccine injuries through insurance claims. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya is involved in the effort. Kennedy called vaccine injury an “invisible disease” and said sufferers had been marginalised. The plan also requires electronic health records to capture vaccine-related adverse events. Funding will go to outside researchers studying vaccine-related adverse events. The programme could expand to centres across the country, according to NIH notices from June.

The CDC says the chance of a serious reaction to a vaccine is very remote. Patient advocates have welcomed the programme. Some scientists warned the effort could fuel vaccine hesitancy. The administration says it wants better data on rare side effects.