U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that COVID-19 shots are no longer advised for kids and pregnant women.
Taking to X, Kennedy posted a 58-second video on Tuesday and stated that he removed COVID-19 vaccines from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for those groups.
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.
CDC advisory panel to conduct a meeting in June
A CDC advisory panel has scheduled a meeting in June to make recommendations regarding the fall shots. They are likely to suggest shots for high-risk groups while enabling lower-risk individuals to select whether to get vaccinated.
However, Kennedy, once a leading anti-vaccine advocate and now health secretary, acted early. He stated that yearly COVID-19 boosters are being advised for kids without clinical data to support that decision.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner (FDA) Dr. Marty Makary and Dr. Jay Battacharya, head of the National Institutes of Health, made an appearance in the video with Kennedy.
Kennedy and other Trump administration appointees have been working to limit COVID-19 vaccine recommendations to a recent vaccine approval.
Last week, the FDA announced routine COVID-19 vaccine approvals will now be restricted to seniors and teens with underlying medical risks, pending new research for healthy adults and children.
However, HHS officials have not immediately responded to questions regarding the reason behind Kennedy’s important announcement.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department gets support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
