Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering a directive to rescind the COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government's list of recommended immunizations for children, Politico reported Tuesday.
Such a move would remove the COVID shot from the childhood vaccine schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, used by pediatricians to base their vaccination timelines.
"No final decision has been made," HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told Politico.
Kennedy's directive would not prevent children from getting the vaccination, according to the report.
However, it would bring the U.S. in line with the World Health Organization, which does not routinely recommend annual COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children or healthy adults. Further, studies have shown that children are unlikely to become severely ill or die from COVID, according to the report.
The topic of COVID vaccinations for children came up several times during Kennedy's confirmation hearings in January.
"COVID vaccines are inappropriate for 6-year-old children who basically have a zero risk of COVID," Kennedy said at one point.
According to recent CDC data, just 13% of children received the latest COVID shot.
No states mandate the COVID vaccine and, in fact, 22 states enacted a ban on student COVID vaccine mandates, according to the report.
The report comes one week after CNN reported the CDC was considering recommending annual COVID shots to those who are older or with a compromised immune system, superseding the blanket recommendation for everyone 6 months and older.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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