RFK Jr. HHS Plans to Eliminate Routine COVID Vaccination Recommendations for Children, Adolescents and Pregnant Women

The Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services United States (HHS) is planning to officially eliminate its recommendations for routine COVID vaccinationin children, adolescents and pregnant women. The media outlet detailed that, while it is not entirely clear whether the department will completely eliminate the recommendation for those groups or simply suggest that patients communicate with their physicians about the risks and benefits.

According to the Journal, in addition to the change in recommendations by HHS, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also planning to submit another regulatory framework for vaccine approvalagainst COVID next week. Such a situation comes amid massive layoffs as part of a restructuring under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr (RFK), who is currently in charge of HHS. Several media outlets have reported that these massive layoffs have included senior scientists, raising concerns about possible disruptions in the regulatory process for vaccines and treatments.

Only three vaccines are licensed in the country.

Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is part of HHS, recommends that tevery person older than six months receive the most current current COVID vaccine, regardless of whether or not they have been previously vaccinated. CDC data revealed that, as of April 26, 14% of pregnant women and 13% of children in the United States had already received the updated COVID vaccine.

Currently, the three COVID vaccines licensed in the country are Memeler RNA from Moderna, the protein-based vaccine from Novavax and Pfizer-BioNTech. Several media outlets recently revealed that Novavax was trying to resolve issues with the FDA for its vaccine after the regulatory agency was unable to approve the dose by April 1 of this year.