US no longer recommends COVID-19 immunization for pregnant women and healthy children

As Kennedy, a known vaccine skeptic, and other health officials pushed for new federal guidelines in recent weeks, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is no longer recommending routine Covid-19 vaccines for pregnant women and healthy children.

In a video broadcast on X, Kennedy stated that the Covid vaccine was taken off the CDC’s immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women. Kennedy also appeared alongside National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya and Food and Drug Administration Director Martin Makary.

Covid vaccinations were originally advised for anybody six months of age or older, pregnant women, and those attempting to conceive by the CDC, whose website has not been changed to reflect the change.

Kennedy said that «despite the lack of clinical data to support the strategy of a repeat booster dose» among healthy children, the Biden administration suggested that children receive an additional dose of the Covid vaccination.

The CDC revoked the advisory in response to the FDA’s adoption of a new regulatory framework that would likely limit vaccine recommendations among individuals over 65 and those at high risk for serious outcomes. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was set to vote on vaccine recommendations in June.