RFK Jr. ends covid shot recommendation for healthy children, pregnant women

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday that his agency would no longer recommend the coronavirus vaccine for healthy pregnant women and healthy children - a rare move that bypasses the traditional system of vaccine recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In a 58-second video posted on X, Kennedy said the vaccine had been removed from the CDC’s immunization schedule for those two groups of people.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that as of today the covid vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule,” Kennedy said. “Last year the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another covid shot despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children.”

Currently, the CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older receive the coronavirus vaccine annually.

Kennedy, the founder of a prominent anti-vaccine group, has a lengthy history of disparaging vaccines. He has targeted the coronavirus shot in recent years, falsely calling it the “deadliest vaccine ever made.” Kennedy has countered that he is simply seeking good data about vaccines before recommending any vaccines.

Kennedy was flanked in the video by Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary and Jay Bhattacharya, head of the National Institutes of Health.

The social media post did not offer a detailed explanation about the move.

“There’s no evidence healthy kids need it today, and most countries have stopped recommending it for children,” Makary said.

“We’re now one step closer to realizing President Trump’s promise to ‘Make America Healthy Again,’” Kennedy said.

Georges C. Benjamin, longtime executive director of the American Public Health Association, said the administration had been telegraphing this move for some time, but he asked about the data to support the conclusion that those vaccines might pose health risks for those populations.

“Are they making this decision without going to any of their advisory committees?” Benjamin said. “Show us the evidence, the studies that have been done. … I don’t know of any.”

Last week, the FDA released a framework for narrowing its approval for updated coronavirus vaccines to adults 65 and older, and people with at least one health condition that puts them at high risk for severe disease. The move marked a significant shift in the agency’s approach to green-lighting the annual shots traditionally offered in the fall.

The CDC has said pregnant women are more likely to get very sick from the coronavirus and are at increased risk of pregnancy complications, including preterm birth and stillbirth.

The CDC estimates that 13 percent of eligible children and 14.4 percent of eligible pregnant women received the latest version of the coronavirus vaccine.

The move bypassed the traditional process. Once a vaccine is approved or authorized by the FDA, the CDC’s independent vaccine advisory panel holds hearings to determine who should receive the vaccine, when and how often.

The panel - the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices - sends its recommendations to the CDC director. Once the director signs off, the recommendations become official policy, and insurance companies are required to cover the vaccines with no out-of-pocket costs to consumers.

Richard Hughes IV, who teaches vaccine law at George Washington University Law School, said he cannot recall a previous time when an HHS secretary overruled the advisory committee and the CDC.