RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kids
The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
What happened
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Tuesday said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer recommend Covid-19 shots for "healthy children and healthy pregnant women." He announced the policy change in a social media video in which no CDC officials appeared.
Who said what
"CDC officials were not informed in advance of Kennedy's decision," The Washington Post said, citing a former agency official. Public health experts "immediately questioned" the announcement, The Associated Press said, in part because Kennedy, a "leading anti-vaccine advocate," bypassed a "scientific review process that has been in place for decades, in which experts — in public meetings — review current medical evidence and hash out" policy recommendations.
Pregnant women are "at high risk of severe illness and complications from Covid," and vaccinating them also "extends the protection to their unborn until the babies are about 6 months old," a period in which infants' risk of severe disease and hospitalization from the virus is "comparable to that among adults 65 and older," The New York Times said. Children previously vaccinated or exposed to Covid tend to have milder infections, but Kennedy "seems to have reneged on a promise" to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) "not to alter the childhood immunization schedule."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
The CDC advisory panel on vaccines was scheduled to meet and vote on new recommendations in June, but Kennedy's decision "effectively voids that official step," the Times said. His new policy "throws insurance coverage of the vaccines" into question and will likely "create confusion among pharmacists who now largely administer the shots."
-
Political cartoons for January 24Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include 3D chess, political distractions, and more
-
Ryanair/SpaceX: could Musk really buy the airline?Talking Point Irish budget carrier has become embroiled in unlikely feud with the world’s wealthiest man
-
Claudette Colvin: teenage activist who paved the way for Rosa ParksIn The Spotlight Inspired by the example of 19th century abolitionists, 15-year-old Colvin refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus
-
Mixed nuts: RFK Jr.’s new nutrition guidelines receive uneven reviewsTalking Points The guidelines emphasize red meat and full-fat dairy
-
Trump HHS slashes advised child vaccinationsSpeed Read In a widely condemned move, the CDC will now recommend that children get vaccinated against 11 communicable diseases, not 17
-
Deaths of children under 5 have gone up for the first time this centuryUnder the radar Poor funding is the culprit
-
A fentanyl vaccine may be on the horizonUnder the radar Taking a serious jab at the opioid epidemic
-
Health: Will Kennedy dismantle U.S. immunization policy?Feature ‘America’s vaccine playbook is being rewritten by people who don’t believe in them’
-
Stopping GLP-1s raises complicated questions for pregnancyThe Explainer Stopping the medication could be risky during pregnancy, but there is more to the story to be uncovered
-
Choline: the ‘under-appreciated’ nutrientThe Explainer Studies link choline levels to accelerated ageing, anxiety, memory function and more
-
RFK Jr. sets his sights on linking antidepressants to mass violenceThe Explainer The health secretary’s crusade to Make America Healthy Again has vital mental health medications on the agenda
