RFK Jr. pulls COVID shot recommendation for kids, pregnant women
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Kennedy Jr. speaks at an event for a new Make America Healthy Again Commission report at the White House on May 22. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is no longer recommending COVID shots for healthy kids and healthy pregnant women, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on X on Tuesday.
Why it matters: The CDC recommended immunization schedule influences how physicians advise their patients — and how insurers cover shots delivered to patients.
It's the latest move by Kennedy to cut back access to the COVID-19 vaccines after he announced earlier this month that drug manufacturers will be required to conduct more studies on the safety and efficacy of updated COVID-19 boosters for healthy adults under age 65.
- FDA officials have said they are looking to shift away from approving updated COVID-19 vaccines each year, especially since the virus is now mutating at a slower rate.
What he's saying: "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 a video, accompanied by NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary.
- "That ends today," Bhattacharya said. "It's common sense and it's good science."
- "There's no evidence healthy kids need it today and most countries have stopped recommending it for children," Makary said.
Yes, but: Public health officials have said the policy isn't based on the best available science and may make it harder to prevent the virus from spreading in vulnerable patients.
- For instance, pregnant individuals who contract COVID-19 are at an increased risk of developing severe complications, per the Mayo Clinic.
The decision came just weeks before CDC outside advisors are supposed to meet and vote on updated COVID booster recommendations and raised questions about whether HHS leadership is bypassing customary scientific reviews to unilaterally impose policies.
- Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said dialing back the vaccine recommendation was another example of "on the fly" policymaking that's become a hallmark of Kennedy's tenure.
- "An HHS secretary has a lot of authority designated to him by Congress that often he or she designates down to others; this secretary seems to be taking a lot of it back," Raymond James analyst Chris Meekins wrote in a note.
What to watch: A new variant of COVID-19 known as NB.1.8.1 which has caused a surge of illness in China, has been found in the U.S., CBS News reported.
- Officials have said it's not clear that the strain of the virus causes more severe disease, but it may be more transmissible.
- They are also keeping watch for a variant called LP.8.1, an offshoot of Omicron, NBC News reported.
