WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a serious shift in public well being coverage, U.S. Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. introduced Tuesday that the federal authorities will not advocate COVID-19 vaccination for wholesome youngsters and pregnant girls, calling the transfer a “commonsense, science-based replace.”
The choice follows a current adjustment by the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA), which now restricts COVID-19 vaccine authorization to people 65 and older and youthful individuals with critical underlying well being circumstances.
Framing the change as a step towards aligning U.S. well being protocols with these in Europe, together with the UK, Germany, and France, the administration says the objective is to tailor vaccination efforts towards probably the most weak populations.
“It is a turning level,” Kennedy mentioned in a press release shared by way of video on the social media platform X. “We’re taking a extra focused method and eradicating wholesome youngsters and pregnant girls from the CDC’s beneficial immunization schedule.”
Nevertheless, the announcement has raised alarms amongst well being specialists and public well being advocates. Critics level to Kennedy’s longstanding opposition to vaccines and warn that the brand new steerage could undermine vaccine entry and public belief.
“This mirrors what some European nations are doing,” mentioned Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious illness professional at Johns Hopkins College, “however I nonetheless consider the first COVID vaccine sequence ought to stay a part of routine childhood immunization.”
Dr. Paul Offit, a distinguished vaccine researcher on the Youngsters’s Hospital of Philadelphia, cautioned that the rollback could lead insurers to cease masking COVID-19 boosters for these underneath 65, limiting entry for individuals who nonetheless need safety — particularly in a healthcare system pushed by non-public insurers.
The CDC’s official web site, as of Tuesday morning, had but to mirror the coverage change and continued to emphasise that vaccination stays significantly vital for pregnant girls, who face the next threat of extreme sickness from COVID-19.
In a associated growth, the FDA has acknowledged that vaccine producers should now conduct new scientific trials, together with comparisons with saline placebos, in the event that they want to keep approval to be used in wholesome people underneath 65.
As debates proceed, public well being officers are grappling with tips on how to stability evolving scientific proof, vaccine entry, and the politicization of well being coverage within the post-pandemic period.
