The nation\u2019s top public health agency posted new recommendations that say healthy children and pregnant women may get Covid vaccinations, removing stronger language that those groups should get the shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The change comes days after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that Covid vaccines will no longer be recommended for healthy children and pregnant women<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the updated guidance on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s<\/a> website sends a more nuanced message, saying shots \u201cmay\u201d be given to those groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe announcement from earlier this week sounded like CDC was going to fully withdraw any statement that could be construed as a recommendation for these vaccines in these populations,\u201d said Jason Schwartz, a Yale University health policy researcher. \u201cIt\u2019s not as bad as it could have been.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy announced the coming changes in a 58-second video<\/a> posted on the social media site X on Tuesday. No one from the CDC was in the video, and CDC officials have referred questions about the announcement to Kennedy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Thursday, the CDC updated its website. The agency said that shots may be given to children ages 6 months to 17 years who do not have moderate or severe problems with their immune systems. Instead of recommending the shots, the CDC now says parents may decide to get their children vaccinated in consultation with a doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A subtle update to a CDC page on the adult immunization schedule indicated a similar change for the recommendation for pregnant women, excluding them from the routine recommendation made for other adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe old COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for healthy children under 18 and for pregnant women have been removed from the CDC vaccine schedule,\u201d a HHS spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cThe CDC and HHS encourage individuals to talk with their healthcare provider about any personal medical decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That kind of recommendation, known as shared decision-making, still means health insurers must pay for the vaccinations, according to<\/a> the CDC. However, experts say vaccination rates tend to be lower when health authorities use that language and doctors are less emphatic with patients about getting shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Childhood vaccination rates for Covid are already low \u2014 just 13% of children and 23% of adults have received the 2024-25 Covid vaccine, according to CDC data<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talk of changing the recommendations has been brewing. As the Covid pandemic has waned, experts have discussed the possibility of focusing vaccination efforts on people 65 and older \u2014 who are among those most as risk for death and hospitalization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n