CDC no longer to recommend COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children or pregnant women

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 said

Richard Hughes (jockey)oBR head

I would say it’s a legal gray area,

said Richard Hughes, a lawyer who has represented vaccines companies

But that’s not true for those youngest kids, they remain essentially naïve to Covid,

he added

I’m disappointed that this won’t remain an option for pregnant women who would like to protect themselves,

she added

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.health and Human Services Secretary

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's recommended immunization schedule,

Kennedy said in the 58-second video

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.”

Dr. Steven Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said

To say that they are not at any risk is simply incorrect,

said Dr. Sean O'Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics

Michael Osterholmdr.

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

Michael Osterholmdr.

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

Georges C. Benjamindr.

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

With the Covid-19 pandemic behind us, it is time to move forward,

the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement

Just as we are seeing with the current measles outbreak, lower vaccination uptake means more disease,

he added

The way we license and recommend vaccines in the U.S. is really a model for much of the world and to circumvent that process in this manner is deeply concerning,

he said

Dorit Rubinstein Reissacademic specializing in vaccination policies

I am surprised at the open contempt they are showing to the process and not even pretend to do it in a substantive and deliberative way,

Reiss said

Dorit Rubinstein Reissacademic specializing in vaccination policies

The secretary has never been involved in making Covid-19 vaccine recommendations – any vaccine recommendations,

said Dorit Reiss, a law professor at the University of California San Francisco who has closely followed attempts to circumscribe access to Covid-19 vaccines

Separate from my role as a regulator at the FDA, I’m not encouraging or insisting young, healthy children to get a Covid shot unless there is new evidence that emerges that suggests there is a clear benefit with it,

Makary said

If a vaccine is not recommended for use in children, even if it ends up being approved for use, only those children who can afford to pay for it will be able to get vaccinated,

Besser said

I’m perplexed by this decision,

said Mark Turrentine, an OB-GYN and professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas

Pregnant women can lower transmission to vulnerable newborns by vaccinating,

Caplan said in a text

Sudden changes in the time-tested process of approving and recommending vaccines create confusion that could reduce access to vaccines for those who need them and undermine trust in immunization,

a spokesperson for the biotech trade group Biotechnology Innovation Organization said in an emailed statement