The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced Tuesday.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared the change in a video alongside National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary.
The trio criticized the previous administration’s push for widespread COVID-19 vaccination in low-risk groups, particularly children and pregnant women.
“Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot despite the lack of any critical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children,” Kennedy said. He called the updated guidance a return to “common sense” and “good science.”
Dr. Bhattacharya echoed that sentiment, calling the move “common sense and good science,” while Dr. Makary emphasized that “there’s no evidence that healthy kids need it today and most countries have stopped recommending it for children.”
The CDC update was expected as it comes just one week after federal health officials announced plans to limit access to the annual COVID booster shot, reserving it primarily for seniors 65 and older and individuals at higher risk of severe illness.
Previously, the CDC had recommended the vaccine for everyone six months and older.
The shift in policy change is seen as a response to how the previous administration handled vaccine safety data, particularly regarding the mRNA shot’s risk of heart inflammation in young adults.
Just days earlier, a Senate investigation led by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) accused Biden-era health officials of withholding early warnings about myocarditis and pericarditis linked to the vaccine. According to the report, the CDC and FDA were alerted to the issue by February 2021 but waited months to notify the public, despite internal emails acknowledging the risks.
“Federal health officials had ample evidence of myocarditis and related heart inflammation conditions occurring in young adults who received mRNA COVID-19 vaccines,” the report stated. “But rather than promptly notify the public, they delayed and debated — putting politics over transparency.”
Former FDA acting commissioner Janet Woodcock and former CDC director Rochelle Walensky are named in the report, which claims internal resistance blocked a proposed Health Alert Network advisory to physicians.
The Senate findings also document efforts to suppress dissenting voices, including doctors and researchers who raised early concerns about the vaccine’s risk profile. Some had social media posts flagged as “misinformation,” while others faced temporary account suspensions.
The latest CDC shift reflects what Makary described last week as a broader reevaluation of public health strategy. Speaking at a legal conference, the FDA commissioner said, “We want some good science,” and emphasized targeting vaccination efforts toward high-risk populations.
Vaccination rates among healthy children and pregnant women have remained low in 2025, with just 13% of children and 14% of pregnant women having received the updated shot, according to April data.
With both public confidence and scientific scrutiny increasing, the Trump administration’s updated stance marks a clear break from the universal vaccination push of the pandemic years—and a return to selective, risk-based public health policy.
The United States now aligns more closely with countries such as Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, all of which reserve COVID-19 vaccination primarily for elderly and high-risk populations.
In the U.K., for example, the recommendation applies to those 75 and older, while Sweden limits it to individuals 80 and up.
Earlier this month, the FDA also approved Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine for people 65 and older and for those aged 12 to 64 with high-risk health conditions.