The CDC no longer recommends that healthy children and pregnant women receive routine COVID-19 vaccinations, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said May 27.
The CDC removed COVID-19 vaccines from its recommended immunization schedule for these populations, effective immediately. The agency had previously recommended vaccination for everyone six months and older.
“Bottom line: it’s common sense and it’s good science,” Mr. Kennedy wrote in a May 27 post on X. “We are now one step closer to realizing @POTUS’s promise to Make America Healthy Again.”
The move comes a week after the FDA shared a new regulatory framework for COVID-19 vaccine approvals that could limit access to updated shots this fall for healthy individuals under age 65. Boosters are still expected to be available for adults 65 and older, as well as individuals over six months old with at least one underlying condition that increases their risk of complications.
The Infectious Diseases Society of America criticized the CDC’s move, warning it could limit access to vaccines, reduce Americans’ health choices and undermine public health. The group also raised concern that the change bypassed the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and could prompt insurers to limit vaccine coverage for millions of Americans.
“IDSA strongly urges insurers to maintain coverage for COVID-19 vaccines so that all Americans can make the best decisions to protect themselves and their families against severe illness, hospitalization and death,” IDSA President Tina Tan, MD, said in a May 27 statement. “IDSA also urges Congress to conduct meaningful and necessary oversight to ensure appropriate decision-making processes at the Department of Health and Human Services, which will impact people of all ages.”
