CDC removes language that says healthy kids and pregnant women should
get COVID shots
[May 31, 2025]
By MIKE STOBBE
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's top public health agency posted new
recommendations that say healthy children and pregnant women may get
COVID-19 vaccinations, removing stronger language that those groups
should get the shots.
The change comes days after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
announced that COVID-19 vaccines will no longer be recommended for
healthy children and pregnant women.
But the updated guidance on the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's website sends a more nuanced message, saying shots “may” be
given to those groups.
“The announcement from earlier this week sounded like CDC was going to
fully withdraw any statement that could be construed as a recommendation
for these vaccines in these populations,” said Jason Schwartz, a Yale
University health policy researcher. “It's not as bad as it could have
been."
Kennedy announced the coming changes in a 58-second video posted on the
social media site X on Tuesday. No one from the CDC was in the video,
and CDC officials have referred questions about the announcement to
Kennedy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
On Thursday, the CDC updated its website. The agency said that shots may
be given to children ages 6 months to 17 years who do not have moderate
or severe problems with their immune systems. Instead of recommending
the shots, the CDC now says parents may decide to get their children
vaccinated in consultation with a doctor.
A subtle update to a CDC page on the adult immunization schedule
indicated a similar change for the recommendation for pregnant women,
excluding them from the routine recommendation made for other adults.
“The old COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children under 18
and for pregnant women have been removed from the CDC vaccine schedule,”
a HHS spokesperson said in a statement. “The CDC and HHS encourage
individuals to talk with their healthcare provider about any personal
medical decision."
That kind of recommendation, known as shared decision-making, still
means health insurers must pay for the vaccinations, according to the
CDC. However, experts say vaccination rates tend to be lower when health
authorities use that language and doctors are less emphatic with
patients about getting shots.
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 Childhood vaccination rates for
COVID-19 are already low — just 13% of children and 23% of adults
have received the 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine, according to CDC data.
Talk of changing the recommendations has been brewing. As the
COVID-19 pandemic has waned, experts have 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. A committee work group has endorsed the idea.
But Kennedy, a leading anti-vaccine advocate before becoming health
secretary, decided not to wait for the scientific panel’s review.
The new vaccine recommendation changes, their timing and the way
there were announced have created confusion that can be "incredibly
harmful to the success of vaccination programs,” Schwartz said.
“It would be understandable if the public is completely baffled in
terms of what the federal government thinks and what the science
suggests ... about the evidence for the safety and value of these
vaccines,” he added.
American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Susan Kressly said the
organization is relieved that families wanting COVID-19 shots for
their children will still be able to get them.
“However," she added, “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.”
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