President Donald Trump received both a COVID-19 booster shot and a flu vaccination during a medical checkup at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday, October 10, 2025, even as his Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to restrict Americans’ access to the vaccines he has long opposed.
The 79-year-old president’s physician, Dr. Sean Barbabella, released a memo late Friday evening confirming that Trump had completed what was described as a “scheduled follow-up evaluation” that included the vaccinations in preparation for upcoming international travel. The president was set to depart for the Middle East on Sunday, October 12, following his role in helping secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Barbabella indicated in his one-page report that Trump “remains in exceptional health, exhibiting strong cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, and physical performance.” The physician noted that Trump’s cardiac age, determined through an electrocardiogram test, was approximately 14 years younger than his actual age.
The medical visit marked Trump’s second checkup at Walter Reed in 2025, despite White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterizing it earlier in the week as his “routine yearly checkup.” Trump had undergone an annual physical examination at the facility in April.
The president’s decision to receive the COVID-19 booster comes at a time when his administration has significantly tightened vaccine access for Americans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its COVID vaccine guidance on Monday, October 6, limiting recommendations for the shots only to people 65 or older or those with underlying health conditions, and only after consulting with healthcare providers.
The latest guidelines mark the most restrictive access to COVID-19 vaccines since they first became available. Moderna, Pfizer, and Novavax vaccines are now limited to individuals considered at high risk and those aged 65 and older.
The Moderna vaccine is authorized for children as young as six months who have underlying health conditions, as well as for people over 65. Pfizer’s vaccine is cleared for individuals age five and above with underlying conditions and for those 65 and older. Novavax is approved for people 12 and older with underlying conditions and for individuals over 65.
According to Barbabella, the checkup was “part of his ongoing health maintenance plan” and included advanced imaging, laboratory testing, and preventative health assessments conducted by a multidisciplinary team of specialists. The physician characterized Trump’s lab results as exceptional, with stable metabolic, hematologic, and cardiac parameters.
The timing of Trump’s vaccinations has drawn attention to the stark contrast between his actions and the positions taken by Kennedy, who has repeatedly made conspiratorial and false statements about COVID vaccines. In 2021, Kennedy called the COVID vaccine “the deadliest vaccine ever made,” and has maintained his skeptical stance throughout his tenure as HHS Secretary.
The Food and Drug Administration declared COVID-19 vaccine guidance changes in late August, ending emergency-use authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines and approving Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax immunizations only for people over 65 and those with existing health conditions that make them high risk. The restrictions represent the tightest limits on vaccine access since the immunizations became available.
Trump’s vaccination occurred under the guidance changes made by Kennedy’s CDC, which overhauled the agency’s vaccine advisory panel earlier this year after firing all its members and replacing them with his own picks. Former CDC Director Susan Monarez testified during a Senate committee hearing in September that Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, pressured her to pre-emptively approve vaccine recommendations from the panel and grew upset when she refused.
The president had previously made remarks about COVID-19 vaccines in a September 1 post on Truth Social following his dismissal of Monarez, demanding that vaccine makers provide proof of their effectiveness. Trump noted that many people consider the vaccines a miracle that saved millions of lives, while others disagree, and requested answers from the CDC immediately.
Trump’s medical visit also addressed a condition diagnosed in July, when the president was found to have chronic venous insufficiency, a non-life-threatening condition that causes blood to pool in the legs. The condition can cause swelling, pain, and skin discoloration, and in some cases can lead to ulcers. The Friday memo did not provide an update on this vein condition.
Shortly after Trump received his booster shot, the administration’s budget director Russell Vought worked with Kennedy to lay off over 1,300 viral disease experts and staffers at the Centers for Disease Control. The administration later reversed roughly half of the layoffs, leaving approximately 600 CDC workers terminated after being designated as non-essential.
Trump, who became the oldest person elected U.S. president in November 2024, has consistently maintained that he is in great shape. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, October 9, he expressed confidence in his health status and emphasized the importance of early checkups as a lesson for others.
The president’s “Operation Warp Speed” initiative during his first term helped accelerate COVID vaccine development and distribution to Americans. Despite Kennedy’s different views on vaccines, Trump has not publicly shared his health secretary’s skepticism and joked in September that he hoped he hadn’t caught COVID after Kennedy sneezed near him in the Oval Office.
