Isabella Cueto , 2025-05-15 22:12:00
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to announce that the Department of Health and Human Services will stop recommending Covid vaccines for children and pregnant people, a close Kennedy ally said Thursday.
The news arrived between panels at a daylong event marking the launch of a new Make America Healthy Again-affiliated think tank called the MAHA Institute.
“Something just happened that’s really special. I was asked to please make this announcement,” Executive Director Leland Lehrman told attendees. “You might’ve already heard, but today the secretary is announcing that HHS and the CDC are going to stop recommending routine Covid shots for children and pregnant women.”
As the room broke out into applause, he chuckled and said, “That’s good! That’s really good.”
STAT reached out to HHS for comment. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. It’s unclear how Kennedy would enact such a change, since federal health agencies typically rely on independent advisory bodies for vaccine recommendations. It would be highly unusual for the secretary to circumvent his advisers and reverse a recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
“And without any process, it’s even worse,” said Dorit Reiss, a law professor at UC Law San Francisco who studies the anti-vaccine movement. “Overturning the recommendation means that insurance companies will no longer have to cover these vaccines.”
During and after his confirmation hearings in the Senate, Kennedy assured on-the-fence lawmakers that he would not take away anyone’s vaccines. However, withdrawing a recommendation would have the effect of limiting access by making people pay out of pocket for Covid shots. There are myriad other ways Kennedy could reshape the nation’s vaccine policy, and he has shown so far that he is willing to cast doubt on shots from his post at HHS.
Experts had already been debating the merits of Covid shots for different populations, and a key committee set to meet next month was likely to recommend the shots only for people at highest risk. Kennedy and his followers have been pushing for an even more stripped-down vaccine recommendation (and, in the most staunchly distrustful corners, no Covid shots at all).
Thursday’s news would be an even bigger change, since pregnant people are considered to have a higher risk of Covid complications. Indeed, at the last meeting of an expert panel that has guided the nation’s vaccine policy, a subcommittee presentation suggested that group would likely recommend annual shots for adults 65 and older and some younger adults with medical conditions that increase their risk of severe illness from Covid infection, including pregnant people. The group seemed to also be considering shots for health care workers and some very young children.
Earlier Thursday, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary said the agency was planning to release new guidance in coming weeks for vaccine makers, focused primarily on Covid shots.
The change is likely to be well received in Kennedy’s longtime base, which includes anti-vaccine advocates and “medical freedom” activists, some of whom have grown skeptical of MAHA’s focus on nutrition. The same contingent has pushed for bans on messenger RNA technology, which was used in some Covid shots.
Lehrman admitted as much, referring to a message he received from a physician friend skeptical of Covid vaccines. “The base is fracturing over this issue, terrified that there’s not going to be real action and that’s all going to be things associated with food or easier wins,” Lehrman said before making the announcement.
The MAHA Institute is the latest spinoff endeavor by Kennedy’s backers. It aims to influence federal lawmaking by leveraging the Kennedy connection. The institute’s first event gave a platform to numerous figures with controversial views, including proponents of raw milk, union leaders against vaccine mandates, and psychiatrists who want to wean patients off of mental health drugs.
Early in the day, attendees also heard from Mary Holland, president of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group Kennedy founded. The group has been sharply criticized for giving parents false information about vaccines.
“Wow, we’ve come a long way,” she said. “We have all been waiting for this moment.”
Helen Branswell contributed reporting.
STAT’s coverage of chronic health issues is supported by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Our financial supporters are not involved in any decisions about our journalism.