HHS Reported to Stop Recommending COVID-19 Vaccines for Kids and Pregnant Women

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported last week that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will cease recommending that children, teenagers, and pregnant women receive COVID-19 vaccines as a matter of routine.

Currently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is part of HHS, advises that those aged six months and older should receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of previous inoculations for the disease.

WSJ reported that the department wasn’t clear if it would remove the recommendation entirely for those demographics or suggest that patients talk with their doctors about risks and benefits.

Over 14% of pregnant women and 13% of those aged six months to 17 have received this season’s COVID-19 vaccine as of April 26, the CDC reported.

The new COVID-19 recommendations follows Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary’s announcement that the agency is preparing a new regulatory framework clarifying its guidance related to vaccines, particularly COVID-19 shots, Seeking Alpha reported. The Trump administration’s appointments to the health department, including HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have been critical of the COVID-19 vaccine shots with messenger-RNA technology.

Seeking Alpha reported the exact date of the new recommendations is yet to be confirmed, but it is expected to come soon.