US health officials remove COVID shot from list of recommended vaccines for pregnant women, children
ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Half a decade after the U.S. experienced its first devastating cases of COVID-19, American health officials are now taking the coronavirus vaccine off the recommended list of immunizations for pregnant women and young children.
Announcing the move in a video posted online, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., flanked by the directors of the Food and Drug istration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health, said the decision was “good science.”
“Last year the Biden istration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot despite the lack of any clinical data to the repeat booster strategy in children,” Kennedy said.
New center at USC Aiken aims to boost cybersecurity workforce
Ground was broken ceremonially on Tuesday for a new center on the University of South Carolina Aiken campus to help meet the demand for cybersecurity workers.
“There’s no evidence healthy kids need it today and most countries have stopped recommending it for children,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary.
Pregnant women and children can still get the COVID-19 vaccine; it’s just not on the federal immunization recommended list.
While other nations have taken the step to remove the COVID shot from the recommendation list for those groups, it also means U.S. insurers will not be required to pay for doses of the shot anymore.
How should South Carolina spend $150M in federal hurricane aid?
It’s now been eight months since Category 4 Hurricane Helene hit South Carolina and Georgia, and we’re still far from recovered.
It’s also worrying some local pediatricians, who say the vaccine was an important tool in keeping the disease at bay.
“I’m a bit puzzled by this recommendation,” said pediatrician Dr. George Bugg Jr.
Bugg said while children are at a lower risk for contracting the virus, if they do, it could be their more vulnerable family that suffer.
“As a grandparent, the fact that my immunity may be waning some by age, having my grandson vaccinated is a way of helping to protect me,” he said. “So I’m very concerned that it could be the vulnerable, the elderly, who could also be impacted by this.”
Copyright 2025 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
