RFK Jr. Terminates COVID-Era Emergency Use Authorizations For Drugs, Medical Devices

The Department said the terminations will follow periods of advance notice to ensure and orderly transition for manufacturers and supply chains.

John Rigolizzo

Published: 6/30/2026, 3:18:01 PM EDT

RFK Jr. Terminates COVID-Era Emergency Use Authorizations For Drugs, Medical Devices — Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 22, 2026. (Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times)

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. terminated a key piece of the COVID-19 response.

The Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that Secretary Kennedy terminated the Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for drugs and medical devices. The EUAs were put in place by then-Secretary Alex Azar after the initial outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.

“Americans deserve a regulatory system that is transparent, accountable, and rooted in the rule of law,” Kennedy said in a statement on the HHS website. “By ending these COVID-19 emergency use authorization declarations, we're reinforcing public confidence that emergency authorities are temporary and targeted.”

Four EUAs were issued by the first Trump administration in 2020: the first, issued on Feb. 4, authorized the use of in vitro diagnostics to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus that caused the pandemic; the second, issued on March 2, authorized the use of personal respiratory protective devices (face masks and respirators); the third, issued March 24, authorized medical devices, including "alternative products used as medical devices, due to shortages during the COVID-19 outbreak"; the fourth, issued March 27, authorized drugs and biological products during the pandemic.

"The COVID-19 EUA declarations were first issued in 2020 to enable rapid access to medical products during the pandemic," the Department said in the press release. "Since then, the public health landscape has changed substantially. FDA-approved, cleared, and licensed products are now widely available through traditional regulatory pathways, reliance on EUA products has declined, and manufacturers have had years to prepare for a transition from emergency authorities."

The Department said the terminations will follow periods of advance notice to ensure and orderly transition for manufacturers and supply chains. The medical device EUA will end in 180 days, while the EUA for drugs and biologics will expire in 12 months.

"The advance notice periods are designed to provide manufacturers, healthcare providers, health systems, distributors, and patients adequate time to transition away from products authorized solely under the COVID-19 EUA declarations," HHS said. "During this transition, HHS and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will continue working with manufacturers on appropriate regulatory pathways for products seeking traditional approval, clearance, or licensure. HHS will publish notices of the terminations in the Federal Register and provide the notifications required by law to Congress."

The EUAs for the Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax COVID-19 vaccines were revoked in August 2025. A large number of COVID testing devices had their EUAs revoked throughout 2025; several more were revoked in 2026. Most of the other devices that had previously had their EUAs revoked were authorized at some point during the pandemic by the Biden administration.