Covid vaccine no longer recommended for children and pregnant women in US

Yahoo

3 days ago

The Covid-19 vaccine is no longer recommended for children and pregnant women in the US, Robert F Kennedy Jr has announced.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump's health secretary said the vaccines have been removed from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) recommended jabs for these groups.
'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 recommended immunisation schedule,' Mr Kennedy said in a video shared to X.
It is the latest effort by Mr Kennedy, a vaccine sceptic, to reform the department of health to align with his Make America Healthy Again (Maha) agenda.
Under current guidance, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark and Switzerland all recommend annual Covid jabs for those aged 65 or older, and those at high risk.
UK researchers at the University of Huddersfield have published a study showing that Covid vaccines for young children are 'not essential'.
The World Health Organisation only recommends the Covid jab for children who have comorbidities.
The CDC previously recommended updated Covid vaccines for everyone aged six months and older.
Studies with hundreds of thousands of people around the world show that being vaccinated for Covid-19 before and during pregnancy is safe, effective, and beneficial to both the pregnant woman and the baby, according to the CDC's website.
Pregnant women are deemed to be at high risk from Covid, while young children face a similar risk of hospitalisation to older adults, paediatricians told The New York Times.
However, Marty Makary, the US food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, said in the video that there was no evidence that healthy children need routine Covid shots.
Most countries have stopped recommending it for children, he added. In the UK, children under the age of 12 are eligible for the jab, but it is only recommended for children with a weakened immune system.
'With the Covid-19 pandemic behind us, it is time to move forward,' the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
The decision has faced backlash from medical professionals, with one doctor saying the edict could put pregnant women in danger.
'With Covid still circulating, pregnant women and their babies who are born too young to be vaccinated are going to be at risk for Covid and for the severe complications,' Dr Jamieson told The New York Times.
The announcement goes beyond the recommendations of CDC advisers, who had been planning to include pregnant women as among those who remain eligible for Covid-19 jabs, according to CBS.
The move also puts Mr Kennedy at odds with officials at the FDA, who recently said pregnancy warranted continued eligibility for the vaccine.
The FDA last week laid out plans to require new clinical trials to approve annual Covid-19 booster jabs for those under 65, effectively limiting the shots to older adults and those at risk of developing severe illness.
Mr Kennedy has long campaigned against giving children the Covid-19 vaccine and previously threatened to sue the FDA over the issue.
Despite promising not to alter the childhood vaccine schedule in his confirmation hearing, Mr Kennedy has since said that 'nothing is off limits'.
Upon taking over leadership of US health policy, he pledged to set up a strategy around children's health within six months of taking over to investigate 'formerly taboo' issues, including childhood vaccinations.
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