The Trump administration is backing away from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations to vaccinate children and pregnant women against COVID-19, according to a new report.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is planning to pull federal recommendations that these groups get the COVID vaccine as a routine measure, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The CDC currently recommends that everyone aged 6 months and older get vaccinated, but that guidance may be scrapped in the coming days.
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It’s unclear whether HHS plans to drop the recommendation entirely or simply stop pushing it for everyone across the board, the report said.
The move would be a major shift in federal health policy and would mark a break from the blanket-vaccine approach that dominated the early years of the pandemic.
Few parents and expectant mothers have followed through with recent COVID boosters. As of April, CDC data shows just 13% of children and 14% of pregnant women had received the latest shot.
The change comes as the FDA, under Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, prepares to roll out a tougher approval process for vaccines.
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Speaking Thursday at a gathering of food and drug lawyers, Makary said, “We want to see vaccines that are available for high-risk individuals, and at the same time, we want some good science. We want some good clinical data.”
Kennedy has long been critical of mRNA vaccines and mass vaccination campaigns. As HHS secretary, he now has the authority to revise CDC guidance.
The Trump administration said it plans to drop routine COVID vaccination guidance for kids and pregnant women, marking a major shift in federal health policy, the WSJ reported.
The expected shift would undercut one of the most promoted health policies of the first Trump administration, Operation Warp Speed, and raise questions about whether insurers will continue covering the shots.
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Critics of the move told the Journal it could discourage vaccination and leave immunocompromised people more vulnerable. Supporters say it brings policy back in line with science and common sense.
Both HHS and CDC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
