By Ben Strauss and María Luisa PaúlThe Washington Post

CHICAGO – As the Trump administration intensifies a nationwide mass deportation campaign, immigrant parents are scrambling to secure emergency caretakers for their children – flooding legal clinics and naming friends, acquaintances or teachers as temporary guardians.

A Chicago volunteer worker agreed to become a guardian for nine children, using an obscure state law that dates to the AIDS epidemic.

A teacher in Maine recently agreed to be an emergency guardian for one of her students if his parents, both of whom are undocumented, are deported.

And a business owner in Oregon ended up with temporary custody of her friend’s children for four months when the parents were both detained.

Fear of being separated from her son recently led Rosa, an Ecuadorian asylum seeker and single mom in Chicago, to search online for help with a question she never thought she’d face: What happens to my child if I get deported?

The search led her to information about short-term guardianship, or tutela temporal in Spanish, which allows parents to designate a trusted adult to temporarily care for their children under certain conditions without giving up parental rights. In Illinois, the four-page legal document is free and requires no lawyer or notary.

It gives people the authority to make decisions about education and medical needs if parents are unable to care for their children.

“I don’t know if I will come home from work any day; this is my plan,” Rosa said of the short-term guardianship agreement. (Like several others interviewed for this article, she spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because of fear of retaliation from the federal government.)

Across the country, the effects of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign have had a chilling effect on immigrant communities – both the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and those here legally.

Perhaps nowhere has it been more pronounced than in Chicago, where law firms advertise services on Spanish language radio for parents in need of a plan for their kids if they get detained.

Sometimes parents are seeking help from U.S. citizens they’ve only recently met. Aleah Arundale, who helps a network of immigrants with necessities like food and rent money in Chicago, has made short-term guardianship arrangements for nine children from four families. “The greatest fear for them is: ‘What happens if I get taken?’” Arundale said. “They think I’m the best chance to get their kids back.”

There’s no data to quantify short-term guardianship arrangements since the requirements vary by state. But lawyers report they are being inundated. Clinics are popping up across the country, and one specialist said they usually see two or three cases per year but now receive hundreds of requests each week for information.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about the surge of interest in guardianship agreements. The Trump administration has deported more than 400,000 people this year, DHS has said. It has also doubled the number of people detained in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. As of late September, ICE is holding nearly 60,000 people in custody. It’s unclear how many of those are parents.

The White House has said it is targeting criminals, but some of those who have been detained are asylum seekers, longtime residents, people with pending immigration cases or even U.S. citizens. A Syracuse University research group has found that more than 70 percent of those detained by ICE do not have criminal records.

At a time of heightened anxiety, some immigrants said guardianship planning has become one of the few things they can control. “It helps me breathe,” said one mother, an asylum seeker from Venezuela, who completed the Illinois form with Arundale. “And it took 10 minutes.”

– – –

Hundreds every week

Rosa arrived in Chicago four years ago. She cleans an office with a work permit, but a highly publicized federal immigration raid in her neighborhood sent her into a panic.

After Rosa learned about temporary guardianship, her church connected her with Rebekah Rashidfarokhi, an attorney and director of guardianship and immigration programs for children at Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, which offers pro bono representation.

The two met virtually this month to discuss the process.

Unlike adoption or more complicated guardianship procedures that require court approval, short-term guardianship in Illinois needs just the signatures of two consenting parties and two witnesses. Parents can revoke the arrangement at any time. It can last up to a year.

The form is helpful for enrolling a child in school or going to the doctor, Rashidfarokhi said, because it is recognized by state law. It has no federal authority, so it cannot be used to get a passport. (Several parents said that if they are deported they hoped it could also help make international travel and reuniting with their children easier.)

The guardianship does not kick in immediately but takes effect with a specified event. Rashidfarokhi instructed Rosa to be specific about the conditions: “In case I am detained by immigration.”

Rosa said she left Ecuador after her husband was abusing her and threatening her children. She has lived in fear in recent weeks, she said, but also knowing she must make logistical plans. She has been preparing documents, including proof of custody of her son after her divorce. She spoke to a woman, a dual American and Ecuadorian citizen, she met taking English classes at a community college to be her designated guardian. The woman agreed.

She has avoided talking too much about any of it with her 13-year-old son.

“He is confused about what is happening,” Rosa said. “But I am his mother, and I have to do it.”

Rashidfarokhi has been a family law attorney for two decades. Most years, she handles two or three short-term guardianship cases. Now, hundreds of people are requesting information every week, with families and community groups flooding her with requests for clinics and presentations. At one clinic earlier this year, 100 families showed up. (Rashidfarokhi said it’s difficult to quantify how many people fill out the form because many of the consultations she does now are virtual since so many people are afraid to leave their homes.)

Mayra Lira, an attorney with Public Counsel in Los Angeles, said she has seen similar demand for guardianship clinics in her city, where the Trump administration has also carried out immigration raids.

Lira described seeing parents make short-term guardianship plans as “dystopian,” adding that allegations of unlawful arrests and racial profiling have also brought green-card holders and U.S. citizens to the clinics.

“Everyone is afraid of being targeted,” she said.

– – –

‘We want people to know what to do’

The legal framework for Illinois’ short-term guardianship didn’t exist until the late 1980s. It was conceived of primarily to assist HIV-positive parents, many of them low-income, who were worried the state would assume custody of their kids if they died. It took several years of lobbying before Illinois amended its probate law.

“It was revolutionary at the time,” said Linda Coon, a lawyer who spearheaded the effort. “I knew it would help our clients but could never imagine it would be used by thousands of people today.”

Its uses have expanded over the years. During the early days of the pandemic, an executive order in New York state allowed medical workers to designate a temporary guardian. Several states – including Maryland and New York, as well as the District of Columbia – amended statutes during the first Trump administration to recognize immigration detention or deportation as an event that could give designated caregivers temporary parental rights. California passed a law last month that created a new short-term guardianship process for parents who could be detained or deported.

Today, guardianship conversations are happening in all types of settings, some not even planned by parents.

A teacher in Maine said she agreed to be a temporary guardian for one of her students after the parents broke down crying in a meeting over what might happen to their child if they were deported.

“I will do that every single time,” the teacher said. “I shouldn’t have to. I should just be able to teach my kids.”

Mimi Lettunich, an Oregon resident, took care of a friend’s four children after the family was detained by federal agents. (She has a pending U.S. visa and her children are U.S. citizens.) When Lettunich picked up the children, she was handed a coloring book with a note from their mother that said: “I will miss my babies. … I talked to them that they need to obey you.” The note also included a reminder for one of her kids’ upcoming orthodontist appointments.

Temporary guardianship allowed Lettunich to take the kids to doctor’s appointments and enroll them in a new school.

Lettunich’s friend was eventually released, and the two are now working on a handbook to help families facing the same circumstances. One of its strongest recommendations: arrange for short-term guardianship.

“We want people to know what to do,” Lettunich said. “Because you never think it’ll happen – until it does.”

By Rachel SiegelThe Washington Post

President Donald Trump over the weekend floated an idea that took real estate agents, mortgage brokers and housing experts by surprise: the 50-year mortgage.

On Saturday, Trump posted an image on Truth Social titled “Great American Presidents.” It included a photo of President Franklin D. Roosevelt under the words “30-year mortgage” and a photo of Trump beneath the words “50-year mortgage.” (Mortgages were extended to 30 years in the 1940s as part of Roosevelt’s push to make home buying more affordable.)

Housing economists say the longer time frame could save buyers a couple hundred dollars a month, depending on the size of the mortgage and other details. But it would be costlier in other ways, including with more interest paid over a longer period of time. Implementing such a policy would also require tedious changes from regulators, plus buy-in from lenders and the broader housing finance industry.

So far, there’s little sense of how popular a 50-year mortgage would be. Here’s what we know so far.

– – –

What has the Trump administration said?

After Trump’s Truth Social post on Saturday, Bill Pulte, the administration’s top housing finance official, posted on X that “we are indeed working on The 50 year Mortgage – a complete game changer.” Pulte is the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency who also made himself chair of mortgage behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, companies that have been under government control since the 2008 housing crisis. Fannie and Freddie are essential to the smooth functioning of the U.S. mortgage market and together guarantee about half of existing home loans.

In a statement, a White House official who declined to be named said Trump “is always exploring new ways to improve housing affordability for everyday Americans. Any official policy changes will be announced by the White House.”

An FHFA spokesperson who also declined to be named said, “We are studying, and have not finalized, a wide variety of options related to multi year loans, including the ability to make mortgages transferable or portable. If banks can sell someone’s mortgage, we should at least explore if there are opportunities for regular Americans to have flexibility.”

One person close to the White House said the announcement came after Democrats swept in last week’s elections, in part on pledges to boost affordability for housing and more. But that person, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly, said Trump’s social media post had no substantial policy behind it yet.

– – –

Would 50-year mortgages save buyers money?

With a longer timeline, home buyers have much more time to pay back a loan. And they would have lower monthly payments along the way. For example, let’s assume a home sells for $400,000. A buyer puts up 10 percent – or $40,000 – for a down payment. The buyer gets a 6.25 percent interest rate, slightly above last week’s 30-year fixed rate average of 6.22 percent.

That buyer would owe about $2,300 each month on a 30-year mortgage. On a 50-year loan, they would owe about $2,000. They might pay more than that, though – that math assumes a buyer gets the same rate for both mortgages, which is unlikely, since shorter loans typically have lower rates. So rates on 50-year loans could be higher than on 30-year ones.

A lower monthly payment could be beneficial for new buyers looking to get a foothold in the market. But it might also work against them if they are only planning on living in the house for a few years, or if they don’t know how their needs will shake out across decades.

– – –

What about potential drawbacks?

Buyers’ monthly payments may be lower, but they’ll end up paying much more interest over two more decades. With a 50-year loan, total interest on that $400,000 home would amount to $816,396, compared with $438,156 on a 30-year loan. That’s 86 percent more interest over the life of the loans, said Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com.

And it will take much longer for owners to build equity. Ten years into paying off a 30-year mortgage on that $400,000 home, an owner would have a 24 percent stake in a house, setting aside rising home values. With a 50-year mortgage, that would be 14 percent.

Berner said addressing the nation’s affordability problems will take lots of ideas, including how to generate more construction so there are enough homes to meet Americans’ needs. But a new mortgage offering could juice demand before supply can catch up – which would push prices even higher.

“This is a creative way to solve this problem,” Berner said, “but I don’t think it addresses the fundamental issues that we have.”

– – –

What would it take to offer a 50-year mortgage?

Establishing a new kind of mortgage could be possible, albeit complex, wrote Jaret Seiberg, managing director at TD Cowen, in a Monday analyst note. The Dodd-Frank Act – the landmark legislation that reformed the financial system after the 2008 financial crisis – says mortgages that exceed 30 years do not meet the definition of a qualified mortgage, which also means Fannie and Freddie can’t buy them.

But regulators have the ability to alter those qualifications to keep mortgages affordable. All told, the process could take at least a year to implement, Seiberg wrote, and it’s unlikely that lenders would originate 50-year mortgages without clear policy changes first.

Without changing the qualifications, the new loans could be hard to find – and more expensive. Lenders may be less willing to offer 50-year mortgages if they know Fannie and Freddie can’t buy them, a spokesperson for the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a statement. Limited interest from investors could also push interest rates up.

– – –

What’s next?

Any details from the White House or FHFA would be needed for the market to prepare for such a change. Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, said that for now, the administration’s posts appear to be more about messaging than substantial policy. But, Brusuelas said, younger generations “may look at this differently.”

“If they think they’re saving $300 or $400 a month, then that’s a big deal,” he said. “That covers the car payment, maybe.”

by Daniel Wu
The Washington Post

Would you be able to pass a U.S. citizenship test on America’s government and history? This week, it got harder.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began using a revised civics test Monday for aspiring citizens applying for naturalization on or after Oct. 20. Applicants are asked 20 questions, chosen at random, and must get 12 correct to pass. The new test has a larger pool of 128 questions from which to choose. There’s a greater focus on American history, and some revised questions require longer answers than before.

“It’s definitely more challenging, especially for people [for whom] English is not their first language,” said Jonathan Wong, an instructor with USCitizenshipTest, an online tutoring firm that helps immigrants prepare for citizenship applications.

The changes come as the Trump administration has signaled it will increase scrutiny on citizenship applications and threatened to revoke some Americans’ citizenship.

The Washington Post set 10 questions, based on the USCIS study materials – two that return from the old test and eight new ones – to represent the 2025 civics test. They appear as multiple choice questions, unlike the actual test, in which applicants must speak their answers. The correct answers are taken from the USCIS questions list, though the agency acknowledges some questions may have other correct answers.

How does your civics knowledge stack up?
– – –

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

Benjamin Franklin

John Adams

Thomas Jefferson

George Washington

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

This question returns from the old version of the civics test. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence from June 11 to June 28 in 1776, according to the National Archives. John Adams and Benjamin Franklin signed the declaration and were part of the committee that reviewed Jefferson’s draft.

Name a power that is only for the federal government.

-Print paper money

-Declare war

-Make treaties

-All of the above

Answer: All of the above

This question returns from the old version of the civics test. Other correct answers on the USCIS guide include setting foreign policy and minting coins.
– – –

What amendment says all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are U.S. citizens?

-Second Amendment

-Sixth Amendment

-12th Amendment

-14th Amendment

Answer: 14th Amendment

This question about the 14th Amendment, which President Donald Trump took aim at this year with an executive order to end birthright citizenship, is new.

The American Revolution had many important events. Name one.

-The Battle of Gettysburg

-The Battle of the Bulge

-The Battle of Yorktown

-The Battle of Plattsburgh

Answer: The Battle of Yorktown

Several new questions ask applicants to name “important events” during certain periods of history. The USCIS guide lists six answers for the American Revolution: Bunker Hill, the Declaration of Independence, Valley Forge, Yorktown, Saratoga and Washington crossing the Delaware.
– – –

Why were the Federalist Papers important?

-They supported passing the Constitution

-They stoked tensions leading to the Civil War

-They inspired Americans to break from the British crown

-They inspired the Declaration of Independence

Answer: They supported passing the Constitution

The previous test asked applicants to name one author of the Federalist Papers (James Madison, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton). That question is still present, but in the new test, applicants may also be asked to explain the papers’ importance.
– – –

James Madison is famous for many things. Name one.

-First secretary of state

-Helped draft the Declaration of Independence

-Founded the University of Virginia

-President during the War of 1812

Answer: President during the War of 1812

The new test spotlights Madison – the fourth U.S. president and the “Father of the Constitution” – for the first time. Another new question similarly asks applicants about fellow Founding Father and Federalist Papers co-writer Alexander Hamilton.

When did all women get the right to vote?

-1919

-1920

-1925

-1931

Answer: 1920

This question is new on the 2025 test. The 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, was ratified in 1920. The previous test included a question about women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony.
– – –

Why did the United States enter the Persian Gulf War?

-To defend the U.S. from Iraqi threats

-To secure oil in Kuwait

-To force the Iraqi military from Kuwait

-To defeat Saddam Hussein

Answer: To force the Iraqi military from Kuwait

Several new questions ask why the U.S. entered wars, including World War I (“because Germany attacked U.S. ships”) and the Korean War (“to stop the spread of communism”). This is the only correct answer given for the question about the Persian Gulf War, the most recent conflict that USCIS asks about in this way.
– – –

Name one example of an American innovation.

-The lightbulb

-The stethoscope

-The computer

-The electromagnet

Answer: The lightbulb

This question is new. The USCIS guide lists seven innovations: lightbulbs, automobiles, skyscrapers, airplanes, assembly lines, integrated circuits and the moon landing. Were you thinking of something else? USCIS acknowledged in its guide that “there may be additional correct answers to the civics questions.” It states that “applicants are encouraged to respond to the questions using the answers provided.”
– – –

What is Memorial Day?

-A holiday to honor military history

-A holiday to honor soldiers who died in military service

-A holiday to mark the beginning of summer

-A holiday to honor veterans

Answer: A holiday to honor soldiers who died in military service

There are new questions asking applicants to explain why the U.S. celebrates Independence Day, Memorial Day and Veterans Day.
– – –

SCORING
6-10: You passed. For the actual test, applicants are asked 20 questions and must get 12 correct to pass.

0-5: You failed. For the actual test, applicants are asked 20 questions and must get 12 correct to pass.

— Emma Uber contributed to this report.

By Sydney Page

Special to The Washington Post

It started as a series of jokes.

Matt Nelson began posting one-liners on X, formerly Twitter, in 2015 to test his comedic chops.

“I noticed that all of my jokes that had to do with dogs just did way better than my other jokes,” said Nelson, then a college freshman at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina.

That sparked an idea.

“If the entire internet loves dogs, and so do I, and I have a knack for writing humorously about them, then I should start a new account,” said Nelson, who grew up in Charleston, West Virginia.

He decided to post a poll on his personal X account, asking his small following if he should create a dog-rating account. At the time, X had a 140-character limit on posts, so Nelson thought numerical ratings were a way to keep things concise.

The poll results were unanimous, and WeRateDogs was born. He added the tagline: “Your only source for professional dog ratings.”

The first post, on Nov. 15, 2015, was of a friend’s dog.

“Here we have a Japanese Irish Setter. Lost eye in Vietnam (?). Big fan of relaxing on stair. 8/10 would pet,” Nelson wrote in an X post, along with a photo of the dog.

“After that first post, we had 100 messages from people wanting their own dog rated,” Nelson said. “It was a nonstop torrent of potential content.”

Within one week of the first post, WeRateDogs had 100,000 followers on X.

Nelson quickly realized that his comedic experiment had a lot of potential. But he had no idea that nearly a decade later, WeRateDogs would continue to have a huge, fiercely loyal following on social media, including 9 million followers on X, 4.4 million on Instagram, 2.8 million on TikTok and 1.2 million on Facebook. His videos regularly get millions of views, with some of them clocking in at tens of millions, and thousands of enthusiastic comments.

It’s also a profitable business with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm.

When he first started, Nelson decided to go all-in to figure out if he could make it big. He made the tough choice to drop out of college — where he was studying professional golf management — in 2017 to dedicate all his time to WeRateDogs.

“Once I realized that I had this passion for it and I was having so much fun, nothing I was doing in school was assisting me with that,” said Nelson, who now lives in Los Angeles.

Although his account is lighthearted and funny, Nelson said, running a dog-rating business is no joke.

Initially, he managed everything himself for several months, sifting through thousands of daily dog submissions he was getting through direct messages from fans. He’d select which ones to post and think up a witty caption and rating for each pup.

“In the beginning, it was staggering,” Nelson said. “It was probably close to 5,000 to 6,000 submissions a day.”

Choosing the dogs to feature, he said, felt like an impossible task. So many of them beckoned to be rated. Nelson prioritized the funniest or highest-quality photos.

“Every dog is the best and every dog is the cutest,” Nelson said.

His profile photo hasn’t changed since he started the account. It’s of a dog named Pippin with striking blue eyes and an intense expression, which he picked because he wanted the account to have a playfully absurd feel.

“It felt very formal, and that was contrasted with the ridiculous posts I was making,” Nelson said.

Nelson initially found the photo of Pippin online, but as the account grew, Pippin’s owners eventually got in touch with him and they became friendly.

At first, all dogs were rated fairly high (aside from noncanine animals, which were given low ratings), but they were never rated above 9/10. Then one day, Nelson decided to give one dog a 10/10 rating, and people went wild.

Another day, he gave a dog 11/10.

“That was a eureka moment,” Nelson said.

He adjusted his rating scale so the lowest was 10/10 and the highest was 15/10. Recently, the lowest score has been 12/10. Nelson said his rating process is arbitrary, unless the pup is a true “hero dog” worthy of the coveted 15/10 rating. His generous ratings have become a key part of the WeRateDogs identity.

“When we hit a million followers, I was like, ‘People are paying attention to this in a way that I never would have imagined,’” Nelson said. “I didn’t go into it thinking anything could be accomplished besides a few laughs.”

As the account exploded in popularity, it became too much for Nelson to manage on his own. He brought on someone to help him sort through submissions, though he remained the sole writer for the first five years. He became known for his deadpan wisecracks.

In a 2016 X post, WeRateDogs featured a dog named Duke, sitting in a fridge.

“This is Duke. He sneaks into the fridge sometimes. It’s his safe place. 11/10 would give little jacket if necessary,” Nelson wrote.

Nelson said he focuses on dogs because he doesn’t have a strong opinion about cats, and because he has never had a cat.

“I just know that I wouldn’t be able to make a WeRateCats,” he said. “I wouldn’t do it justice.”

As the account started to get even more popular, dog owners began sharing more information about their pups along with their submissions, including poignant backstories. Although most of the posts remained silly, a few became more serious.

“This is Jacob. In June of 2016, he comforted those affected by the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. Four months ago he flew to Vegas to help families of 59 people grieve. Today, he is in Parkland, Florida hugging students who lost classmates yesterday. He is our third 15/10,” WeRateDogs posted in 2018.

In addition to funny dog photos, followers were often sending WeRateDogs fundraising pages for pups in need, usually to cover unexpected medical bills. In 2017, Nelson started featuring a fundraiser every Friday, which quickly grew to three every Friday to keep up with demand.

The posts, which feature GoFundMe accounts, raised close to $3 million in four years, Nelson said.

“We just knew there was something more there,” he said. “All of this sent us in the direction of a foundation.”

In 2021, Nelson and his team launched a nonprofit group called the 15/10 Foundation with a mission to sponsor dogs with medical needs and improve their chances of adoption.

“We have 45 rescue partners across the U.S., and we’ve sponsored almost 900 dogs. Their average medical cost is just under $5,000,” Nelson said. “Once it felt like people were invested in the account and it meant a lot to them, we could turn it into a real force for good.”

Nelson’s own dog, Doug, whom he called WeRateDogs’ chief executive, died in 2023. Nelson and his girlfriend regularly foster dogs, and said they hope to adopt another one soon.

“It’s like an interview process for our next CEO,” Nelson said.

WeRateDogs now has a team of about 50 people who help run the nonprofit group and the business, which makes money mostly through brand partnerships and by selling merchandise and calendars. Nelson said 15% of net proceeds from merchandise sales go to the foundation. Popular items include stickers and T-shirts that say “tell your dog i said hi.”

“It’s really wonderful to be at the helm of this community,” Nelson said. “It’s just such a kind, empathetic, optimistic community, and I really take a lot of pride in protecting and nurturing that.”

Beyond its signature humorous dog ratings, WeRateDogs publishes a “Top 5 Dogs of the Week,” video, and it recently launched a weekly podcast called “The Dogs Were Good (again).”

Since the dogs continue to be good, and the public seems to have an insatiable desire to know the dogs’ official ratings, Nelson does not have plans to slow down.

“There are just so many dogs to talk about, and I could talk about them forever,” Nelson said.

While WeRateDogs has grown into something Nelson never thought possible, he said his primary goal has never changed — to bring people joy.

“It’s all rooted in that,” Nelson said.

By Lena H. Sun, Rachel Roubein, Dan Diamond
The Washington Post

Trump health officials plan to link coronavirus vaccines to the deaths of 25 children as they consider limiting which Americans should get the shots, according to four people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe confidential information.

The findings appear to be based on information submitted to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which contains unverified reports of side effects or bad experiences with vaccines submitted by anyone, including patients, doctors, pharmacists or even someone who sees a report on social media. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasizes that the database is not designed to assess whether a shot caused a death, a conclusion that requires thorough investigations by scientists and public health professionals.

Trump health officials plan to include the pediatric deaths claim in a presentation next week to an influential panel of advisers to the CDC that is considering new coronavirus vaccine recommendations, which affect access to the shots and whether they’re free.

The plan has alarmed some career scientists who say coronavirus vaccines have been extensively studied, including in children, and that dangers of the virus itself are being underplayed. CDC staff in June presented data to the same vaccine committee showing that at least 25 children died who had covid-associated hospitalizations since July 2023 and that number was likely an undercount. Of the 16 old enough for vaccination, none was up-to-date on vaccines.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary confirmed on CNN last week that officials were investigating reports of possible child deaths from the vaccine, including reviewing autopsy reports and interviewing families. Such a review could take months, according to health officials, and it is unclear when those investigations began.

The pediatric deaths presentation to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is not final, according to one person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe ongoing policy discussions. The full methodology for the analysis was not immediately clear.

“FDA and CDC staff routinely analyze VAERS and other safety monitoring data, and those reviews are being shared publicly through the established ACIP process,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in an email. “Any recommendations on updated COVID-19 vaccines will be based on gold standard science and deliberated transparently at ACIP next week.”

The FDA in August approved the latest coronavirus vaccines for people ages 65 and older or who have risk factors for severe disease, but the CDC vaccine panel can recommend the shots more narrowly or broadly. The committee is weighing a plan to recommend the shot for those 75 and older but instruct people who are younger to speak to a physician before they get the vaccine, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share policy discussions. Another option would not recommend the vaccine to people under the age of 75 without preexisting conditions, the people said.

But limiting access for people ages 65 to 74 has raised concerns about a political backlash, said one federal health official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private conversations. According to CDC estimates, nearly 43 percent of people in that age group received the 2024-2025 version of the coronavirus vaccine.

Many countries do not recommend annual coronavirus vaccination for healthy children because they rarely die from covid and most experience mild symptoms. U.S. officials have justified yearly shots based on data showing infants and toddlers faced elevated risk of hospitalization and that significant shares of those who were hospitalized had no underlying conditions. They have also said vaccines offer children protection against long covid.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of coronavirus vaccines, in May directed health officials to stop recommending the shots for otherwise healthy children. The CDC later instructed parents to consult a doctor before getting their children coronavirus vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends annual coronavirus vaccines for all children ages 6 to 23 months and for older children if their parents want them to have protection.

Next week’s vaccine advisory panel’s meeting is critical because the recommendations determine whether insurers must pay for the immunizations, pharmacies can administer them and doctors are willing to offer them. Kennedy purged the membership of the panel earlier this year and appointed his own picks, most of whom have criticized coronavirus vaccination policy. He is considering adding additional critics of covid shots to the committee.

The previous vaccine panel was already considering a more targeted approach to coronavirus vaccination, recommending the shot for high-risk groups, but allowing others, including children, to get the vaccine if they wanted.

Tracy Beth Hoeg, one of Makary’s top deputies who was a critic of broad childhood coronavirus vaccination before joining the FDA, has been one of the officials looking into vaccine safety data, according to five people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private information.

The planned pediatric death presentation included attempts to interview some families, but it’s not clear what other information was used. Some of those same families had been previously interviewed by the CDC officials as part of vaccine safety tracking, according to one person familiar with the matter.

Harleen Marwah, a pediatrician at Mass General Brigham for Children who recently reviewed data on the coronavirus vaccine and its safety and efficacy in children, said new studies since June identified “no new safety concerns.” Marwah conducted the research on behalf of the Vaccine Integrity Project, a new initiative based at the University of Minnesota to provide scientific evidence to inform vaccine recommendations.

The CDC has been monitoring coronavirus vaccine safety data since the first shots rolled out in the United States. Much stricter requirements were put in place for reporting adverse events than for other vaccines because the vaccines were initially fast-tracked under the FDA’s emergency response authority.

Death rates among all ages after mRNA coronavirus vaccination were below those for the general population, according to data presented to the CDC vaccine committee in June.

Noel Brewer, a public health professor at the University of North Carolina and one of the vaccine advisers terminated by Kennedy, said the focus on vaccine harms ignores the harms of coronavirus.

“They are leveraging this platform to share untruths about vaccines to scare people,” Brewer said. “The U.S. government is now in the business of vaccine misinformation.”