By Julie Steenhuysen and Chad Terhune

(Reuters) -U.S. government lawyers attempted to block a vaccine skeptic appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. from assuming new powers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that could be used to restrict access to COVID-19 shots, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, serves as an outside adviser to the government on vaccines. He was elevated to the head of a work group with CDC on COVID immunization in August.

At the same time, new rules published by CDC would allow him to appoint other panel members, set the work priorities and shape recommendations on who should receive COVID-19 vaccines.

Lawyers at the Departmen

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