The federal government has removed COVID-19 vaccines from the list of shots recommended for healthy pregnant women and children, federal health officials announced Tuesday.
"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," Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a video posted on X. "We're now one step closer to realizing President Trump's promise to make America healthy again."
The decision will make it much harder for parents to get their children vaccinated and for pregnant people to get the shots because insurance companies will likely no longer pay for them.
"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," Kennedy said.
In announcing the decision, Kennedy was flanked by Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary and National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.
"It's common sense and it's good science," Bhattacharya said.
"There's no evidence healthy kids need it today and most countries have stopped recommending it for children," Makary added.
The decision was apparently made without the usual input from independent outside advisers. Although independent advisers have been reconsidering the COVID vaccine recommendations, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices isn't scheduled to meet until later this month to make a recommendation.
In response to questions on this issue, Department of Health and Human Services press secretary Vianca N. Rodriguez Feliciano shared the following statement: "HHS and the CDC remain committed to gold standard science and to ensuring the health and well-being of all Americans—especially our nation's children."
Since the vaccines became available, the government has been recommending the shots for nearly everyone, including children and pregnant people. Although children don't tend to get seriously ill from COVID, some do, especially very young children, and pregnant women remain at high risk for serious complications from the virus.
Vaccinating pregnant women also protects newborn babies, who can't get vaccinated themselves but are at very high risk for serious complications from the virus.
"It's really concerning," Dr. Sean O'Leary, who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Infectious Diseases, told NPR. "I think it's going to be confusing not only for parents but also for public health professionals and medical professionals as well. This takes away choice."
Dr. Steven J. Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said his organization is "extremely disappointed" by the removal of the recommendation for COVID shots during pregnancy.
"As ob-gyns who treat patients every day, we have seen firsthand how dangerous COVID infection can be during pregnancy and for newborns who depend on maternal antibodies from the vaccine for protection," he said in a statement. "The science has not changed. It is very clear that COVID infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability."
The announcement comes a week after the administration made changes that could dramatically restrict the availability of the next round of COVID boosters. The government will now require additional testing for the vaccines to be approved for use by anyone other than people who are at high risk from COVID because they are age 65 or older or have risk factors for other health problems.
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