COVID vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and
pregnant women, Kennedy says
[May 28, 2025]
By MIKE STOBBE
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday
announced that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy
children and pregnant women — a move immediately questioned by several
public health experts.
In a 58-second video posted on the social media site X, Kennedy said he
removed COVID-19 shots from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's recommendations for those groups. No one from the CDC was
in the video, and CDC officials referred questions about the
announcement to Kennedy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services.
No other details were released, and HHS officials did not immediately
respond to questions about how the decision was made.
Some doctors and public health leaders called the move concerning and
confusing.
“There's no new data or information, just them flying by the seat of
their pants,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of
Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
U.S. health officials, following recommendations by infectious disease
experts, have been urging annual COVID-19 boosters for all Americans
ages 6 months and older.
The idea of changing the recommendations is not completely out of the
blue. As the COVID-19 pandemic has waned, experts have increasingly
discussed the possibility of focusing vaccination efforts on people 65
and older — who are among those most as risk for death and
hospitalization.
A CDC advisory panel is set to meet in June to make recommendations
about the fall shots. Among its options are suggesting shots for
high-risk groups but still giving lower-risk people the choice to get
vaccinated.
But Kennedy, a leading anti-vaccine advocate before becoming health
secretary, decided not to wait for the scientific panel's review. He
said that annual COVID-19 booster shots have been recommended for kids
“despite the lack of any clinical data” to support that decision.
Some physicians and public health leaders expressed concern that HHS
officials disregarded a scientific review process that has been in place
for decades, in which experts — in public meetings — review current
medical evidence and hash out the pros and cons of policy changes.
“It's a dangerous precedent. If you can start doing that with this
vaccine, you can start doing that with any vaccine you want — including
mumps-measles-rubella,” said Osterholm, referring to another vaccine
that Kennedy has voiced doubts about.
He and others said the announcement raises an array of questions,
including whether health insurance companies will keep covering COVID-19
vaccinations and how hard it will be now for people who want the shots
to get them.
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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, and
Education Secretary Linda McMahon attend a Make America Healthy
Again (MAHA) Commission Event in the East Room of the White House,
Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
 “The reason we give vaccines to
healthy people is to keep them safe,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin,
executive director of the American Public Health Association.
More than 1.2 million people have died in the U.S. from COVID-19,
most of them elderly. But children haven't been spared: The
coronavirus has been the underlying cause in more than 1,300
childhood deaths since the pandemic began, according to CDC data.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary and Dr.
Jay Bhattacharya, head of the National Institutes of Health,
appeared in the video with Kennedy.
Earlier this year, during the nomination process, Kennedy gave
assurances to wavering Republicans that he would not alter the
federal vaccine schedule.
But since then, Kennedy and other Trump administration appointees
have made big changes to the system for approval and use of
vaccines.
They added restrictions to a recent vaccine approval. Last week, the
FDA announced routine COVID-19 vaccine approvals will be limited to
seniors and younger people with underlying medical risks, pending
new research for healthy adults and children.
Among the confusion created by Tuesday's announcement, experts said,
was the implication that the coronavirus isn't dangerous to pregnant
women.
During the height of the pandemic, deaths of women during pregnancy
or shortly after childbirth soared to their highest level in 50
years. Indeed, pregnancy was on the list of health conditions that
would qualify someone for a COVID-19 vaccination under FDA’s new
guidance “framework” announced last week.
Vaccination has been recommended for pregnant women, in part,
because it's a way to pass immunity to newborns who are too young
for vaccines and are vulnerable to infections.
“To say that they are not at any risk is simply incorrect,” said Dr.
Sean O'Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Steven Fleischman, president of the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said: “The science has not changed.
It is very clear that COVID infection during pregnancy can be
catastrophic and lead to major disability, and it can cause
devastating consequences for families.”
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