Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly considering a move that would mark a major shift in national vaccination policy: removing the Covid-19 vaccine from the federal list of recommended childhood immunizations, according to two individuals briefed on the matter who spoke with POLITICO.
If implemented, this change would take the Covid vaccine off the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s official childhood immunization schedule — a guide that many pediatricians use to determine which shots to administer and when. It would be the most consequential alteration Kennedy has pursued so far in his efforts to challenge mainstream vaccine protocols.
Kennedy, who has long voiced skepticism about vaccinations, has raised doubts about the necessity and safety of administering the Covid shot to children. He’s repeatedly pointed to research suggesting that healthy minors face a negligible risk of death from the virus.
This potential policy reversal wouldn’t ban the vaccine for children outright, but it would amount to a dramatic override of the CDC’s prior guidance. Just three years ago, the agency — backed by an independent advisory committee — recommended including the vaccine in the standard childhood schedule.
Such a change would likely have ripple effects. Many healthcare providers, insurers, and local governments rely on the CDC’s recommendations to shape their own rules, including determining insurance coverage and school vaccine requirements. Although, at present, no state mandates the Covid shot for school enrollment.
Sources familiar with internal talks say the discussions are still ongoing, and the details of the policy shift could evolve. These individuals were granted anonymity to speak freely about the deliberations.
“No final decision has been made,” said Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for HHS, in response to questions regarding the Covid vaccine’s inclusion on the CDC schedule.
Nevertheless, according to those close to the matter, Kennedy has been urging the department to take the vaccine off the list, insisting the scientific justification for its inclusion — especially so early in life — is weak.
Numerous studies show that most children who contract Covid recover quickly and face little risk of severe outcomes. Many European nations have likewise backed away from recommending additional annual Covid shots for healthy young people.
Kennedy and those aligned with him also believe that removing the vaccine from the CDC’s schedule could energize supporters of his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign — especially those who remain skeptical of the government’s pandemic response. Kennedy has criticized the CDC’s advisory panels, claiming they are overly influenced by pharmaceutical interests, despite existing safeguards against conflicts of interest.
His supporters argue that the move may not trigger widespread backlash, given that many parents have already opted not to vaccinate their children against Covid.
CDC data show only 13 percent of children have received the most recent version of the vaccine. As pandemic policies became increasingly polarized under President Donald Trump’s leadership, many states steered clear of mandating the vaccine.
In fact, 22 states have passed laws preventing schools from requiring Covid vaccinations for students, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy. In February, Trump signed an executive order warning that any educational institution enforcing such a requirement could lose federal funding.
Even so, if finalized, Kennedy’s plan would probably face significant criticism from health professionals and those who oppose his anti-vaccine stance, who fear that such a move could further erode public trust in immunization programs.
“It’s like in Jurassic Park, when the Tyrannosaurus rex keeps checking where in the fence is a weakness,” said Paul Offit, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “He could do a lot of harm. I think he will do a lot of harm unless somebody stops him.”
During his confirmation process, Kennedy pledged not to tamper with the vaccine schedule to secure the support of Senator Bill Cassidy, a key Republican vote and a physician by profession. However, after assuming leadership of HHS, Kennedy signaled his intention to revisit areas he described as “taboo or insufficiently scrutinized” — including the childhood immunization list.
The Covid vaccine was added to the CDC’s schedule in 2022, following a unanimous vote by an outside expert panel. At the time, CDC officials argued that including it would help normalize the shot and ensure Americans kept up with their immunizations.
While statistically, children are less vulnerable to Covid than older age groups, the CDC still reports over 1,800 pediatric deaths and hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations attributed to the virus.
For Kennedy, challenging this inclusion would be a hallmark moment in his ongoing campaign against the Covid vaccine. As head of Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine advocacy group, Kennedy has promoted conspiracy theories and cast doubt on the vaccine’s safety, while launching multiple initiatives aimed at preventing its rollout during the Trump administration.
Among those efforts was a threat in 2022 to sue the Food and Drug Administration if it went ahead with authorizing the vaccine for children under the age of five. In a letter at the time, the organization wrote it would “seek to hold you accountable for recklessly endangering this population with a product that has little, no, or even negative net efficacy but which may put them, without warning, at risk of many adverse health consequences.”
Despite the pushback, the FDA approved the vaccine for young children a few months later, and the CDC quickly followed by recommending it and incorporating it into the national immunization schedule.
{Matzav.com}