RFK Jr. ditches COVID vaccine recommendation for children, pregnant women
WASHINGTON – Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on May 27 that the COVID-19 vaccine would no longer be included in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women, in a move that breaks with previous expert guidance.
He announced the change in a video clip on X, arguing that it’s “common sense and it’s good science.” The clip also featured Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.
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 makes a final call. The committee has not voted on the changes Kennedy announced.
The CDC, following its panel of outside experts, previously recommended updated COVID-19 vaccines for everyone aged six months and older.
The change comes after the Food and Drug Administration said on May 20 it plans to require new clinical trials for approval of the annual COVID-19 boosters for healthy individuals under the age of 65.
For years, Kennedy has questioned the effectiveness or safety of several vaccines and promoted debunked claims that certain vaccines are linked to autism.
'Turned upside down'
"The recommendation is coming down from the secretary, so the process has just been turned upside down," said William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a consultant to the ACIP.
Schaffner said the CDC's panel was to vote on these issues at a June meeting, where he had expected them to favor more targeted shots instead of a universal vaccine recommendation. "But this seems to be a bit preemptory," he said.
Dorit Reiss, professor of law at UC Law San Francisco, said in a Facebook post that going around the advisory committee might hurt the agency in the case of potential litigation.
Studies with hundreds of thousands of people around the world show that COVID-19 vaccination before and during pregnancy is safe, effective, and beneficial to both the pregnant woman and the baby, according to the CDC's website.
But Makary said in the video that there was no evidence that healthy children need routine COVID shots. Most countries have stopped recommending it for children, he added.
Contributing: Reuters