Covid vaccines are still being recommended for children despite Robert F Kennedy Jr’s push to remove them, according to new CDC guidance.
Revisions to the CDC’s vaccine schedules published late Thursday show the Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines are still recommended for healthy children over six months old.
The Novavax shot is on the schedule for children 12 years and older.
The guidance comes after Kennedy’s announcement earlier this week that the shots would no longer be routinely offered to healthy children and pregnant women.
RFK Jr said he ‘couldn’t be more pleased’ to make the announcement, adding that it was ‘common sense’ and ‘good science.’
However, the revisions also state the shot is no longer advised for pregnant women, adding to the confusion surrounding the Trump administration’s influence on CDC guidance.
The CDC recommends the Covid vaccines for children based on ‘shared clinical decision-making,’ meaning children can get the shot if their parents and doctors agree.
The new language states: ‘Where the parent presents with a desire for their child to be vaccinated, children 6 months and older may receive COVID-19 vaccination, informed by the clinical judgment of a healthcare provider and personal preference and circumstances.’
The CDC’s latest guidance still recommends Covid vaccines for children, despite Robert F Kennedy Jr calling for them to no longer be offered (stock image)
Trump and RFK Jr have both promised to overhaul America’s health agencies and address the ‘overmedicalization’ of children, including addressing vaccine schedules
Andrew Nixon, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), told the Washington Post the CDC and HHS ‘encourage individuals to talk with their healthcare provider on any medical decisions.
‘Under the leadership of Secretary Kennedy, HHS is restoring the doctor-patient relationship. If a parent desires their healthy child to be vaccinated or if a pregnant woman desires to be vaccinated, their decision should be based on informed consent through the clinical judgment of their healthcare provider.’
Kennedy claimed during his initial announcement that there was a ‘lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children.’
The FDA is also reportedly re-analyzing whether the evidence supports boosting healthy people under 65 against Covid.
Normally, changes to the vaccine schedule would go through a consultation period and the CDC’s vaccines advisory body — the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — before being made by the HHS Secretary.
However, the CDC currently doesn’t have an acting director.
DailyMail.com revealed in February how several members of Trump’s administration were pushing for tighter restrictions on the Covid vaccine.
The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission’s first report published earlier this month also criticized the ‘overmedicalization’ of children and suggested paring down the vaccine schedule as a whole.
Uptake of Covid booster shots has dropped in the US, with data showing that just 23 percent of those eligible for the booster, aged six months and over, came forward for last year’s shot.
Experts say this is linked to America’s health insurance scheme, with the wide eligibility aiming to ensure that everyone is covered for accessing the shots.
Kennedy has a history of opposition to the Covid vaccines, saying in 2021 that the shots were the ‘deadliest vaccine ever made’.
That same year, he also filed a petition with the FDA requesting the authorization of the Covid vaccines be revoked.
Covid vaccines are thought to have saved millions of lives in the US, and the risk of adverse effects like heart inflammation is rare, occurring in just one in 200,000 cases.
