"HHS Ends Routine COVID Vaccine Recommendations for Kids and Pregnant Women: What Parents Need to Know"

 

"HHS Ends Routine COVID Vaccine Recommendations for Kids and Pregnant Women: What Parents Need to Know"

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as the new head of HHS, has announced that the agency will no longer routinely suggest COVID-19 vaccines for children, teens, or women who are pregnant. This is different from the recent advice from the CDC, as it says that anyone who is six months old or more should get COVID-19 immunisation. At the same time, the FDA has approved a new method for approving vaccines.Since Kennedy has his doubts about mRNA vaccines; he has called for the temporary approval of these COVID-19 vaccines to be taken away and for them to be removed from circulation.

 

Medical experts are afraid that fewer people will get vaccinated and that insurance coverage for certain vaccines will go down, which poses a risk to people with weaker immune systems. Only 14% of pregnant women and 13% of infants had gotten the new COVID-19 vaccine recommended by the CDC by April 2025. In the future, vaccines may have to go through placebo-controlled trials that collect more data before getting FDA approval. The details were disclosed at the launch of the MAHA Institute, a campaign partner of Make America Healthy Again. In his statement, Leland Lehrman, director of the institute, explained that HHS and the CDC are reconsidering their advice on routine vaccination for children and expecting mothers against COVID-19.

 

As a result of this change, there has been much discussion about how federal health agencies should operate and the value of advice built on studies. Critics say that getting around well-established groups like the ACIP weakens the reliability of public health recommendations. We do not know the exact results yet, but the move shows a major change from recent public health policies and has opened up debates about future changes to U.S. vaccine policies. Previously, Kennedy has called to rescind emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines due to issues he has with mRNA vaccines.

 

Many public health experts are concerned that the decision to amend vaccination guidelines might result in fewer vaccinations for people and less insurance coverage, placing immunocompromised individuals at risk.

 

As of April 2025, CDC data showed that just about 13% of children and 14% of pregnant women have gotten the most recent COVID-19 vaccine.The FDA’s new process for giving vaccine approval will likely need more information, including testing with placebos, before any new vaccines can be approved . The announcement happened when the MAHA Institute was being officially opened. Leland Lehrman, the institute’s executive director, said that the HHS and CDC will no longer tell people to get routine COVID-19 shots for kids or pregnant women.

 

This move has led to discussions about the role of federal health agencies and how important evidenced-based recommendations are. Critics are concerned that ignoring ACIP and similar bodies can weaken the public health advice given. How this will shape the next phase of Covid-19 in the U.S. is unknown, but the change in plans has inspired questioning and talks about what should come next in vaccine policy.