CDC contradicts RFK Jr. on COVID vaccine for kids
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The Centers for Disease Control is recommending that children over six months old can get COVID shots after a consultation with a medical provider, contradicting HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's push to drop the shots for healthy kids.
Why it matters: An update the CDC posted online late Thursday adds a new wrinkle to shifting federal recommendations on the shots, and Kennedy's efforts to do away with a COVID booster strategy for healthy children.
State of play: The CDC now says healthy kids from six months to 17 years old may get COVID vaccines but that decision should be "informed by the clinical judgment of a healthcare provider and personal preference and circumstances."
- Kennedy said in a video posted to X on Tuesday that CDC would no longer recommend the shots for healthy kids and healthy pregnant women.
- The new CDC vaccine schedule contains no recommendation on COVID vaccine for healthy pregnant women.
- The CDC previously recommended that kids should get one or more doses of the 2024-2025 version of the COVID shot without a mention of a consultation with a doctor. It also recommended that healthy pregnant women get the shots.
Not all CDC webpages have been updated as of Friday afternoon. One page on vaccine recommendations in pregnancy that appears to have been last updated last year states still has the old guidance that pregnant women should be vaccinated against COVID.
- HHS did not immediately respond to comment. The agency told the Washington Post that it is "restoring the doctor-patient relationship" under Kennedy.
Zoom in: The recommendation for shared clinical decision making on COVID shots for kids allows for open conversation between patients and providers about what's best for an individual, according to Richard Hughes, a partner at law firm Epstein Becker Green and a vaccine law expert.
- But that recommendation is hard to implement in practice, he added. Health insurers don't always cover vaccines in this category.
- "Based on my collective observations of payer coverage of vaccines, the bottom line is expect variability in coverage, prior authorization and out-of-pocket, all of which will discourage uptake," Hughes wrote in an email Friday.
What they're saying: The American Academy of Pediatrics expressed relief on Friday that the vaccine schedule preserves families' ability to obtain COVID vaccines, if they wish.
- "However, the deeply flawed process to reach the recommendation raises serious concerns about the stability of the nation's immunization infrastructure and commitment by federal leaders to make sure families can access critical immunizations," Susan Kressly, president of the organization, said in a statement.
- The AAP said the new recommendation for shared decisions on COVID shots for kids means they will continue to be covered by insurers.
