Topline
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer recommends routine Covid-19 vaccines for pregnant women and healthy children, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—a noted vaccine skeptic who has pushed conspiracy theories about the shots—announced Tuesday, while a critic said the move puts women and children “in harm’s way.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the change, saying it was based … More
Key Facts
Kennedy, who appeared with National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya and Food and Drug Administration Martin Makary, said in a video posted to X the Covid vaccine was removed from the CDC’s immunization schedule for pregnant women and healthy children.
The CDC, whose website has not been updated with the change, previously recommended Covid vaccines for anyone six months and older, pregnant women and women trying to get pregnant.
The CDC’s website also states there are studies with hundreds of thousands of participants indicating Covid vaccination before and during pregnancy is “safe, effective and beneficial” to the woman and the baby, including research suggesting vaccination builds antibodies that could protect the child.
Kennedy claimed the Biden administration recommended children receive an additional Covid vaccine “despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy” among healthy youth.
Kennedy has faced criticism for his vaccine skepticism, including some opposition during his Senate confirmation hearing earlier this year, during which some Democratic lawmakers questioned Kennedy’s earlier comments that “no vaccine is safe” and his call to pull authorizations for Covid vaccines in May 2021.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was set to vote on recommendations for the vaccine in June, and the agency’s decision to revoke the advisory follows the FDA adopting a new regulatory framework that would likely narrow recommendations for the shots among people over 65 and those at high risk for severe outcomes.
Surprising Fact
Makary and Vinay Prasad, the FDA’s top vaccine regulator, wrote earlier this month that pregnancy was among the underlying medical conditions that probably required additional vaccine shots because of the increased risks of Covid.
Chief Critic
Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania, told Forbes Kennedy’s decision to pull the CDC’s vaccine recommendations is “contradictory” and “doesn’t make sense.” Offit cited Makary labeling pregnancy as a high-risk condition for Covid infections, “now they’re saying it’s not, which is it?” Offit said, adding, “All this does is put children in harm’s way and put pregnant women in harm’s way.” Former acting CDC director Richard Besser told NBC in a statement that, while he worked for the agency, there was an “assurance that the recommendations that came to me were based on the best available science and evidence.” The CDC pulling recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women was “clearly not coming from that direction, and that’s greatly concerning,” Besser said.
Key Background
Talks about adjusting the CDC’s recommendations for Covid vaccines have increased in recent weeks. Jamie Loehr, a member of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, said the agency was “seriously considering” adjusting its recommendation language to allow anyone who wanted a vaccine to receive one, CBS reported. Though the CDC’s vaccine panel had reportedly yet to consider dropping recommendations for groups altogether, Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services considered pulling advisories earlier this month, people familiar with the agency’s talks told the Wall Street Journal. Kennedy, who now oversees the FDA, CDC and other public health agencies, petitioned the FDA in 2021 to nix emergency authorizations for Covid vaccines relying on mRNA technology, which were recommended for children as young as six months, with approvals for anyone 12 and older.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/05/27/us-no-longer-recommends-covid-vaccine-for-pregnant-women-and-healthy-children/