CDC shifts child COVID vaccination guidance after RFK Jr. post

Jessica Nix and Rachel Cohrs Zhang, Bloomberg News on May 30, 2025

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its childhood vaccination schedule to say that healthy children “may receive” COVID shots — softened from its previous stance calling for them — after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it would no longer be recommended.

When parents want “their child to be vaccinated, children 6 months and older may receive COVID-19 vaccination, informed by the clinical judgment of a health-care provider,” the CDC website now says. It had previously recommended that everyone ages 6 months and older get vaccinated.

Kennedy’s announcement in a social media post Tuesday leapfrogged a planned meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, medical experts who guide the CDC on vaccine policy. It was also the latest example of how Kennedy has upended vaccine policy since taking the helm at Health and Human Services.

The CDC also changed its recommendation for pregnant people. The adult vaccination schedule now states that they should delay vaccination until after pregnancy. However, old web pages published during the Biden administration recommending pregnant people get vaccinated for COVID-19 remain online Friday.

Emily Hilliard, a press secretary for the HHS, confirmed that the old COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children under 18 and pregnant women had been removed. “The CDC and HHS encourage individuals to talk with their health care provider about any personal medical decision,” she added.