In a dramatic shake-up of U.S. public health policy, the Biden-era recommendation for routine COVID-19 vaccination in children, teens, and pregnant women is reportedly on the chopping block. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Department of Health and Human Services, now led by RFK Jr., is expected to roll back the CDC’s guidance in the coming days.
The CDC advises everyone six months and older, including expectant mothers, to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. But critics have long questioned this broad recommendation, especially for young, healthy individuals at very low risk of serious illness. Concerns about rare side effects like myocarditis in young men have only fueled that skepticism.
RFK Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, has surrounded himself with medical advisors who’ve publicly challenged the mRNA vaccine rollout, including Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Dr. Aseem Malhotra. His administration reportedly plans a more rigorous approval framework for future vaccines.
Whether the CDC recommendation will be entirely scrapped or revised to encourage doctor-patient decision-making remains unclear. However, the move would put U.S. policy more in line with countries like the UK, which now limits COVID vaccine guidance to the elderly and immunocompromised.
COVID vaccines reduce hospitalizations and deaths, especially in older adults. Yet vaccine uptake in the U.S. has plummeted—just 13% of kids and 23% of adults got the updated shot this flu season.
RFK Jr. argues it’s time for transparency, accountability, and more personalized risk-benefit assessments.
