US drops COVID vaccine recommendation for healthy kids, pregnant women
The U.S. has stopped recommending routine COVID-19 vaccinations for pregnant women and healthy children, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced in a social media post on Tuesday, circumventing the CDC’s traditional recommendation process.
Kennedy, FDA commissioner Marty Makary and National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya said in a video that the shots have been removed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended immunization schedule.
The changes come a week after they unveiled tighter requirements for COVID shots, effectively limiting them to older adults and those at risk of developing severe illness.
Traditionally, the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices would meet and vote on changes to the immunization schedule or recommendations on who should get vaccines before the director of the CDC made a final call. The committee has not voted on these changes.
Kennedy, a long-time vaccine skeptic whose department oversees the CDC, has been remaking the U.S. health system to align with President Donald Trump’s goal of dramatically shrinking the federal government.
“Last year, the Biden Administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot despite the lack of clinical data to support repeat booster strategy in children,” Kennedy said in the video.
The CDC, following its panel of outside experts, previously recommended updated COVID vaccines for everyone aged six months and older.
Insurers said they are reviewing the regulatory guidance to determine their policies, which typically follow the ACIP recommendations.
A spokesperson for CVS Health (CVS.N), opens new tab said the company is determining whether changes in health insurance coverage are required as the federal government reassesses COVID-19 vaccine eligibility, while a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association spokesperson said preventative health benefits, including COVID vaccines, are essential in keeping patients healthy.
