Asger Risom
Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. calls it “common sense,” but doctors warn the decision could limit access and fuel vaccine hesitancy.
More than four years since the peak of the pandemic, COVID-19 vaccine policy in the United States is entering a new — and highly controversial — phase.
This week, the Trump administration announced it would no longer recommend the vaccine for healthy children and pregnant women, citing updated science and alignment with European standards.
But the move comes just as a new strain of the virus spreads across the US, raising fresh concerns among health experts about the timing and consequences of reduced access.
Policy Shift Sparks Debate
US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine critic, made the announcement in a video posted on social media Tuesday.
I am very pleased to announce that, starting today, the COVID-19 vaccine for children and pregnant women who are in good health has been withdrawn from the CDC’s recommended vaccination schedule.
The shift follows updated guidance from the FDA, which now recommends COVID-19 vaccines only for people over 65, or for younger individuals with risk factors for severe illness. Kennedy said the change would bring the US in line with countries across the EU.
He added that vaccine makers will now be required to conduct new clinical trials to prove the benefits of annual COVID vaccination in people under 65 without underlying conditions.
Doctors Raise Red Flags
Not all experts are on board. Pediatrician and vaccine researcher Paul Offit warned that the move could make it harder for at-risk groups to get vaccinated — especially in the US’s fragmented private health system, where insurers may drop coverage.
Critics also point out Kennedy’s history of promoting vaccine misinformation. During the pandemic, he falsely claimed COVID-19 vaccines were “the deadliest serums ever manufactured” and made inflammatory remarks suggesting the virus was ethnically targeted.
New Variant on the Rise
The announcement also comes amid the spread of a new SARS-CoV-2 variant, NB.1.8.1, first detected in China and now found in New York and France.
While early data suggests it isn’t better at evading immunity, it may be more transmissible due to stronger cell-binding capacity.
The World Health Organization has classified the strain as “under surveillance,” indicating a potential for increased public health risk.
As reported by Digi24, the United States remains the country with the highest COVID-19 death toll — over 1.2 million lives lost — leaving some doctors uneasy about policy changes that could weaken preventive efforts just as the virus begins to mutate again.