US no longer recommends Covid shots for children, pregnant women

WASHINGTON: The US will no longer recommend Covid-19 vaccines for children and healthy pregnant women, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr announced on Tuesday, calling it a “common sense” decision grounded in sound science.

The change follows last week´s announcement by Food and Drug Administration officials that they would limit approval of Covid shots -- a critical tool in ending the pandemic -- to adults aged 65 and older, as well as younger individuals with underlying health conditions.

Trump administration officials have framed the shift as bringing the US into closer alignment with countries like Britain, Germany and France where annual boosters are recommended only for the elderly and immunocompromised.

But it comes as Kennedy - who has long promoted misinformation about vaccines in general and the Covid shots in particular - pushes to overhaul federal public health policy. “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 (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) recommended immunization schedule,” he said in a video posted to X.

FDA officials also said vaccine manufacturers will need to conduct new clinical trials -- including comparisons against a saline placebo -- if they wish to retain approval for use in healthy people under 65.

These recent changes have drawn criticism. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University, told AFP last week that while the new approach matched that taken by other countries, “I do think, however, that the initial Covid-19 vaccine series should be part of routine childhood immunization.”

Paul Offit, a top vaccine expert at the Children´s Hospital of Philadelphia, warned the change could restrict access for people who still want boosters, particularly under the US´s privatised health care system, where insurers may decline coverage.

The reversal on pregnant women marks a major departure from previous CDC guidance. As of Tuesday morning, the agency´s website -- which had yet to reflect Kennedy´s announcement -- still stated that pregnant women are among people for whom it is “especially important” to receive the vaccine. “If you are pregnant or were recently pregnant, you are more likely to get very sick from Covid-19 compared to those who are not pregnant,” it says.