Millions of Americans are set to no longer be routinely offered the Covid vaccine.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior officially revealed today that the shot would now no longer be recommended for healthy children and healthy pregnant women.
He said the vaccine had been removed from the CDC‘s immunization schedule, a guideline used by health providers to determine which vaccines children should receive and when.
RFK Jr said he ‘couldn’t be more pleased’ with the announcement, which first leaked weeks ago, adding that it was ‘common sense’ and ‘good science’.
In a video accompanying the post, he said: ‘Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get another Covid shot despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children.’
The move reverses previous guidance which had recommended the Covid vaccine to everyone aged six months old and over.
The recommendation for the Covid vaccine for young and healthy individuals has long been criticized, given that the groups face a low risk of hospitalization and death from the virus.
There are also concerns over side-effects linked to the shots, including myocarditis — or heart inflammation — which is rare, but slightly more common among young adults.
Robert F Kennedy Jr is pictured above with the new FDA head Dr Marty Makary (left) and the new head of the NIH Dr Jay Bhattacharya
More than one in five Americans, or 73million people, in the US are children or teenagers, being aged under 18 years old (stock photo)
And fears have been raised that pregnant women are not benefitting from the vaccine, although studies show it is safe for the group and doesn’t raise their risk of miscarriage, stillbirth or birth defects.
Critics say that although it comes at a time when trust in health officials is low, the change risks sending a confusing message about vaccines.
HHS Secretary RFK Jr revealed the announcement on X, formerly Twitter, where he also posted a video of himself flanked by Dr Marty Makary — the new FDA head — and Dr Jay Bhattacharya — the new head of the NIH, which funds research.
Dr Bhattacharya added: ‘That ends today. It’s common sense and it’s good science.’
Dr Makary said: ‘There’s no evidence that healthy kids need it today and most countries have stopped recommending it for children.’
There are more than 73million people in the US — about one in five individuals — who are under 18 years old.
About 5.3million pregnancies are also recorded in the US every year.
Today’s announcement affects vaccine eligibility for healthy under-18s and healthy pregnant women, with those who have an underlying condition still able to get the shot — which should still be covered by their insurance.
The CDC maintains a list of at least 20 conditions that raise the risk of suffering from severe Covid and make someone eligible for the vaccine, including conditions like obesity and physical inactivity.
Dr Vinay Prasad, in charge of vaccines for the FDA, said in a press conference late last week that this ensured continued vaccine access, adding that up to 200million of America’s 340million people have an underlying condition. It is not clear how many children or pregnant women would qualify.
The above shows uptake for the latest Covid booster, recommended to everyone aged six months and over, and the one for the previous year
The above shows Covid test positivity – or the proportion of Covid swabs detecting the virus – in the US, revealing that cases are currently falling
The announcement was quickly crowded with supportive comments, with people writing ‘thank you’, ‘that’s the correct move’ and ‘this is a great first step’ below the post.
News first broke that the administration was considering limiting recommendations for the Covid vaccine two weeks ago, when reports suggested they would no longer be recommended for pregnant women, children and teenagers.
Last week, the FDA also said that annual updated Covid shots would no longer be automatically approved.
Instead, it said companies must conduct clinical trials to show that Covid vaccines are safe and effective before it will green-light them for healthy adults.
Dr Prasad said: ‘We have launched down this multi-year campaign of booster after booster after booster.
‘[But] we do not have the gold standard science to support this for average-risk, low risk, Americans.’
DailyMail.com revealed in February how several members of Trump’s administration were pushing for tighter restrictions on the Covid vaccine.
Ex-President Joe Biden is pictured above receiving a Covid vaccine. RFK Jr said that under him new boosters were continuously recommended to healthy children and healthy pregnant women (Pic shows Biden getting a booster in October 2022)
Revealing plans to change vaccine recommendations last week, Dr Vinay Prasad – the FDA vaccines head – said companies would need to conduct rigorous clinical trials to prove their shots were safe and effective for less at-risk age groups
The above shows current vaccine booster recommendations in other western countries. The US is very much out of step with other nations
This shows the underlying conditions that put someone at risk of disease. The FDA is proposing that anyone with these conditions should still be able to get a booster vaccine
Uptake of Covid booster shots has dropped off a cliff in the US, after the initial vaccine rollout where 70 percent of Americans had got at least one dose.
Data shows that just 23 percent of those eligible for the booster, aged six months and over, came forward for last year’s booster despite the wide-ranging recommendation.
The US has been out of step with other western nations on boosters, with most — including the UK, Canada and Australia — now only recommending them for older adults.
In a press conference last week, Dr Prasad also set out new requirements for vaccine manufacturers seeking to have Covid vaccines approved for under-65s.
He said there was too little data to recommend the shots for this group, instead saying that new randomized placebo-controlled trials were needed.
Former FDA commissioner Dr Robert Califf supports this view, writing in JAMA in January: ‘Covid vaccine uptake is now low enough that large [randomized clinical trials] are feasible to evaluate the efficacy and safety of new updated boosters.’
A randomized clinical trial is a study where participants are assigned to at least two groups, with only one receiving the treatment or factor being tested, while the other receives a placebo.
These studies are widely considered to be the gold standard for evaluating the safety and efficacy of any new vaccines.
Dr Prasad said the FDA would be interested in studies investigating the effectiveness of Covid boosters among people aged 50 to 65 years old.
He added: ‘America is deeply divided on the policy of repeat Covid-19 vaccine doses or boosters.
‘There are some Americans out there who are worried that the FDA has not fully documented and interrogated the safety harms of these products and they are categorically opposed to these products.
‘There are also some Americans, we also have to recognize, who are desperate for additional protection, and they demand these products.
‘But the truth is that most doctors, and most of the public, are entirely uncertain [about whether they need to get a Covid booster].’
Dr Noel Brewer, a public health expert at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and who sits on the CDC’s vaccine recommendation committee, told CNN last week that he supported the change.
‘The proposed policy moves the US into line with other countries. This global view of public health is a welcome development,’ he said.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .