Confirming previous rumors, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr confirmed via a post oin X that the CDC will no longer recommend COVID vaccines for children or pregnant women
“Today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from @CDCgov recommended immunization schedule.
Bottom line:
It’s common sense and it’s good science.
We are now one step closer to realizing @POTUS ’s promise to Make America Healthy Again.“
Today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from @CDCgov recommended immunization schedule. Bottom line: it’s common sense and it’s good science. We are now one step closer to realizing @POTUS’s promise to Make America Healthy Again. pic.twitter.com/Ytch2afCLP
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) May 27, 2025
As we previously reported, Kennedy noted that established side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine include a form of heart inflammation called myocarditis and a related condition called pericarditis. He also pointed out that 15 vaccinated participants in Pfizer’s clinical trial died, compared with 14 participants who did not receive the company’s vaccine.
Three COVID-19 vaccines are currently available for use in the United States: one from Pfizer, one from Moderna, and one from Novavax.
Advisers to the CDC recommended in 2022 that the agency add COVID-19 vaccines to the schedule, concluding that the benefits of the shots outweighed the risks. The CDC in 2023 added them to the schedule.
According to the schedule, all children who have never received a COVID-19 vaccine should receive at least one dose, depending on their age, while those who have received a vaccine in the past should receive at least one additional dose. Unlike many vaccines on the schedule, the COVID-19 vaccine has not been made compulsory for school attendance in states.
Kennedy said during his confirmation hearings, “I recommend that children follow the CDC schedule, and I will support the CDC schedule when I get in there if I’m fortunate enough to be confirmed.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician, who had been considering voting against Kennedy, said in a speech on the Senate floor that Kennedy committed to maintaining the vaccine schedule without changes. Cassidy later wrote on social media platform X that the commitment “never precluded him from conducting sound scientific research” and that he was “confident any reputable review will further confirm settled science of the safety and efficacy of the childhood vaccine schedule.”
Only 13 percent of children have received one of the COVID-19 vaccines with the 2024–2025 formula, according to CDC data.
Children could still get a COVID-19 vaccine if it is removed from the schedule, but insurance may not pay for it if the removal happens.
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