"We're denying people vaccines," Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy told Kennedy.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faced a grilling before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
Over nearly three hours of questioning, he defended his controversial views on vaccines and the ouster of Susan Monarez as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, suggested he will bring ousted CDC director Susan Monarez to Capitol Hill to testify.
"I look forward to her coming before the HELP Committee, maybe this committee as well," Sanders said.
Kennedy claimed that anyone can get COVID-19 vaccines at their pharmacy for free, however, pharmacies are being selective due to the limbo of federal regulations.
The FDA has approved the updated shots for only older and high-risk Americans, and the CDC vaccine panel is set to meet to discuss potential recommendations in a few weeks.
Amid the regulatory uncertainty, some pharmacies have said that access to the shots may vary state-by-state and may require a prescription.
-ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud
The leading medical group representing pediatricians, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), is pushing back on Kennedy saying the organization is "gravely conflicted at their biggest contributors are the four largest vaccine makers."
"Secretary Kennedy's claim that the American Academy of Pediatrics is 'gravely conflicted' is false and misleading. The AAP's financial statements are publicly available for full transparency. Less than 4% of our revenue comes from industry sources," Mark Del Monte, CEO and executive vice president of AAP, said in a statement.
The AAP has a charitable fund known as the "Friends of Children Fund" that pharmaceutical companies have contributed to. They say that 4% of their revenue comes from industry sources.
-ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren accused Kennedy of turning back on his statements during his confirmation hearing that he would not take away vaccines for Americans who want them.
"What you should be doing is honoring your promise that you made when you were looking to get confirmed in this job," Warren said. The senator took issue with changes to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, which public health officials and pharmacist groups have said will make it harder for young and healthy people to get the vaccine should they still choose to do so.
"I'm not taking them away from people, senator," Kennedy said repeatedly during the exchange.
