Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated on Tuesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation for healthy children and healthy pregnant women to receive the COVID-19 vaccine would be removed.
Kennedy Jr. announced the decision in a video posted online, saying, “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’s recommended immunization schedule.”
However, as of Tuesday morning, the CDC’s official immunization schedule had not yet been updated to reflect the change announced by Secretary Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy Jr.’s announcement on X appears to circumvent the established process involving the agency’s external advisors, who typically discuss and propose changes to the CDC’s vaccination guidelines. These guidelines are significant as they influence insurance coverage requirements and liability protections related to vaccines.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) had been in the process of considering whether to refine the COVID-19 vaccine recommendations to focus primarily on older adults and individuals with underlying health conditions that increase their risk of severe illness. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement goes beyond the panel’s deliberations, as ACIP had been weighing the inclusion of pregnant women among those who would continue to be recommended for the COVID-19 vaccine, considering their heightened risk of severe disease and the potential for providing some protection to newborns through maternal vaccination.
This decision also appears to create a divergence with officials at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who recently identified pregnancy as one of the underlying conditions warranting continued eligibility for COVID-19 vaccine approvals.
The reasons behind Secretary Kennedy Jr.’s decision to announce the removal of the recommendation before the ACIP completed its scheduled deliberations are currently unclear. The panel was expected to vote on the matter during its routine June meeting.
In response to the announcement, Vianca N. Rodriguez Feliciano, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, stated in an email, “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.”
Furthermore, Secretary Kennedy Jr. has reportedly delayed other overdue recommendations from the ACIP regarding vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and meningococcal disease. The committee had voted on updated recommendations for these vaccines in April. Typically, the CDC director approves these recommendations, but with a vacancy in that role while Susan Monarez undergoes the nomination process, the decision to adopt the new guidance rests with Secretary Kennedy Jr. To date, only one recommendation from the April meeting, concerning restrictions on the use of a Chikungunya vaccine due to potential severe side effects, has been approved by Secretary Kennedy Jr.
HHS has not yet responded to requests for clarification on the reasons for the delays in these other vaccine recommendations.
Discussion about this post