US CDC keeps COVID vaccine option for healthy children

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said COVID-19 vaccines remain an option for healthy children when parents and doctors agree that it is needed, stopping short of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s announcement that the agency would remove the shots from its immunization schedule.

In a schedule published late on Thursday, the CDC said any COVID vaccination in healthy children aged 6 months to 17 years should follow "shared clinical decision-making" between a child's parents and their healthcare provider.

It had previously recommended updated COVID vaccines for everyone aged six months and older, following the guidance of its panel of outside experts.

"Where the parent presents with a desire for their child to be vaccinated, children 6 months and older may receive COVID-19 vaccination, informed by the clinical judgment of a healthcare provider and personal preference and circumstances," the CDC notice said. It provides instructions for administering the shots to healthy children by age group, from infants to teenagers.

Kennedy, a long-time vaccine skeptic who oversees the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, had said on Tuesday the recommendations would be dropped.

"As of today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule," Kennedy said in a video posted on the X platform.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said there was no contradiction between Kennedy's statement and the CDC schedule, which no longer provides a broad recommendation for healthy children.

Kennedy's announcement prompted criticism from medical experts who said the health secretary circumvented the government's decision-making process on vaccines and could prevent health insurance coverage for COVID shots to vulnerable Americans.

The Infectious Diseases Society of America said on Tuesday that removing the recommendation "does the opposite of what Americans have been asking for when it comes to their health — it takes away choices and will negatively impact them." It added infants and children may "develop severe disease and may suffer from prolonged symptoms due to long COVID, which can negatively impact their development."

Nearly 1,900 children up to 18 years of age died of COVID in the U.S., according to CDC estimates updated in 2023.

The makers of COVID vaccines available in the U.S. — Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax — did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Traditionally, the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices would meet and vote on changes to the immunization schedule or recommendations on who should get vaccines before the agency's director made a final call. The committee had not voted on the changes announced by Kennedy.

Last week, the FDA said it plans to require new clinical trials for approval of annual COVID boosters for healthy Americans under 65, effectively limiting them to older adults and those at risk of developing severe illness.