U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy announced on Tuesday that he is directing public health officials to no longer include certain populations in the government’s schedule for annual COVID vaccinations.
Going forward, children and pregnant women will not be encouraged to be vaccinated against variations of the coronavirus that upended the global economy in 2020. RFK’s announcement was made in a video with two top officials — National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya and FBI Commissioner Marty Makary — who will be implementing the new guidance.
“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 [Centers for Disease Control] recommended immunization schedule,” he declared while characterizing Biden-era recommendations as dangerous, costly, and unnecessary.
This was done “despite the lack of any clinical data to repeat the repeat booster strategy in children,” he added.
Bhattacharya, who has endured protests by NIH staff for implementing cuts at the agency, chimed in, “That ends today. 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,” added Makary.
Doing so will “fulfill President Trump’s promise to Make America Healthy Again,” RFK concluded.
The change comes amid others made by the Trump administration with respect to COVID vaccines. The FDA said last week it’s overhauling how COVID vaccines are developed and approved for the market, and the agency warned that it may further restrict vaccine recommendations for senior Americans.
The CDC immunization schedule webpage has not been updated as of Tuesday, according to CBS News.
The move effectively shortcuts a deliberative process set up by the CDC’s outside advisors to study data about the COVID vaccines in high-risk populations before making changes to the influential immunization guide, which is directly tied to what insurers cover as well as liability protections, the outlet adds.
Despite Makary’s participation, RFK must still contend with unrest at the FDA, where staffers are speaking out against the decision. Earlier this month a group of FDA scientists contradicted the announcement by publishing research in the New England Journal of Medicine arguing for the benefits of COVID vaccinations in pregnant women.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, it is time to move forward. 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 — using common sense,” Vianca N. Rodriguez Feliciano, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in an email.
Since the resignation of former CDC director Susan Monarez, the approval of vaccines has fallen to RFK despite the traditional final say begin given by the head of the agency. He is now tasked with approving or denying new vaccine applications for the prevention of RSV, meningococcal, and Chikungunya.
