As promised, federal health officials have eliminated long-standing recommendations that healthy children and healthy pregnant women should obtain COVID-19 vaccines.
“The COVID-19 vaccine schedule is very clear. The vaccine is not recommended for pregnant women. The vaccine is not recommended for healthy children,” said the United States Department of Health and Human Services in a position in X on Friday.
In formal documents, health officials offer “non -guide” about whether pregnant women should obtain the vaccine and ask parents to talk to a medical care provider before receiving the vaccine for their children.
The decision was made in a way that insurers are still expected to pay for COVID-19 vaccines for children if their parents still want the shots for them.
The new vaccine guidelines were published on the website of the US disease control and prevention centers on Thursday night.
The insurance question
It was not clear immediately if insurers will still be required by virtue of the federal law to pay vaccines for pregnant women.
The Trump administration decision occurred in the midst of the criticisms of the officials of the leading organizations of the Nation for pediatricians and obstetricians. Some doctors said there is no new evidence to support the elimination of the recommendation that healthy pregnant women and healthy children should obtain the Covid vaccine.
“This situation continues that things are not clear and create confusion for patients, suppliers and payers,” he said Friday by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in a statement.
At the beginning of the week, the president of the group, Dr. Steven Fleischman, said that science has not changed and that the Covid-19 vaccine is safe during pregnancy and protects both the future mother and her babies after birth.
“It is very clear that Covid-19 infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic,” Fleischman said in a statement.
Dr. Susan Kressly, president of the American Pediatrics Academy, criticized the change of recommendation as implemented in a “conflictive and confusing” way, with “no explanation of the evidence used to reach their conclusions.”
“For many families, the Covid vaccine will continue to be an important way to protect its son and the family from this disease and its complications, including long covid,” Kressly said in a statement.
Some experts said that the Trump administration should have waited to listen to the recommendations of a committee of doctors and scientists who generally advise the US centers for the control and prevention of diseases on immunization recommendations, which will meet at the end of June.
California view
The California Public Health Department said Thursday that it supported the long-date recommendation that “COVID-19 vaccines are available to all people of 6 months and older who wish to be vaccinated.”
The changes occur when the CDCs have faced an exodus of upper leaders and has lacked an interim director. In general, as was the case during the first Trump administration and in the Biden administration, it is the director of the CDC who makes final decisions about vaccine recommendations. The CDC director has traditionally accepted the consensus point of view of the PANEL of Physicians and Scientists of the CDCs that serve in the Immunization Practices Advisory Committee.
Even with long -standing recommendations, vaccination rates were relatively low for pregnant children and women. At the end of April, 13% of children, and 14.4% of pregnant women had received the last updated COVID-19 vaccine, according to CDC. About 23% of adults in general received the updated vaccine, as well as 27.8% of people over 65 years of age or older.
The CDC estimates that since October, there have been 31,000 to 50,000 Covid deaths and between 270,000 and 430,000 COVID hospitalizations.
Here are some key points about the decision of the CDC:
New vaccination guide for healthy children
Previously, the CDC guide was simple: all 6 months of age and more should obtain an updated covid vaccination. The most recent version was presented in September, and is officially known as the 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine.
Until Thursday, the CDC, on their page of the pediatric immunization program, says that for healthy children, those from 6 months to 17 years, decisions on COVID vaccination must come from “shared clinical decision making”, which is “informed by a decision process between the medical care provider and the patient or the father/guardian.”
“When the father presents the desire that his child be vaccinated, children 6 months or more can receive COVID-19 vaccination, informed by the clinical trial of a medical care provider and personal preferences and circumstances,” says CDC.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services of Vaccine-Skeptic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said that in a video published on Tuesday there was a “lack of clinical data to support the repeated reinforcement strategy in children.”
However, a previous presentation of the CDC staff said that, in general, obtaining an updated vaccine provides children and adult protection of the Emergency Room related to COVID and urgent care visits.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an expert in infectious diseases of the UC San Francisco, said he would have preferred that the CDC retain their broader recommendation that all of the 6 months and obtain the updated vaccine.
“It's simpler,” said Chin-Hong. He added that there are no new data that suggests that children should not receive the updated COVID vaccine.
A guide that implies “shared decision-making,” said Chin-Hong, “is a very nebulous recommendation, and does not result in many people.”
Kressly, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, said that the shared clinical decision -making model is difficult to implement “because it lacks a clear guide for conversations between a doctor and a family.
Some experts had been worried that the CDCs made a decision that would have completed the federal requirement that insurers cover the cost of COVID-19 vaccines for children. The pocket cost for a COVID-19 vaccine can reach around $ 200.
New vaccine guide for pregnant women
In their adult immunization program for people who have medical conditions, CDC now say that “it has no guidance” about whether pregnant women should obtain the COVID-19 vaccine.
In his 58-second video on Tuesday, Kennedy did not explain why pregnant women should not be recommended that they are vaccinated against COVID-19.
Chin-Hong, from UCSF, described the decision to withdraw the vaccination recommendation for “100%” pregnant women.
Pregnancy brings with it a relatively committed immune system. Pregnant women have “a high probability of obtaining infections, and obtain a more serious disease, including Covid,” said Chin-Hong.
A pregnant woman vaccinated also protects the newborn. “You really need antibodies in the pregnant person to cross the placenta to protect the newborn,” said Chin-Hong.
It is especially important, Chin-Hong and others say, because babies under 6 months of age cannot be vaccinated against COVID-19, and have such a high risk of serious complications as people over 65 years of age or older.
It is not the worst case for vaccine defenders
At the beginning of the week, some experts worried that the new rules allow insurers to stop covering the cost of the COVID vaccine for healthy children.
His concerns were caused by the video message on Tuesday, in which Kennedy said that “the Covid vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been withdrawn from the immunization schedule recommended by the CDC.”
For Thursday night, the CDC came out with their formal decision: the agency withdrew the recommendation for healthy children, but still left the shot in the pediatric immunization hours.
Leaving the Covid-19 vaccine at the immunization schedule “means that the vaccine will be covered by insurance” for healthy children, said the American Academy of Pediatrics in a statement.
How are pharmacies and insurers responding
There are some questions that have no immediate answers. Some vaccine suppliers will begin to require medical notes so that healthy children and healthy pregnant women are vaccinated? Is it more difficult for pregnant children and women to get vaccinated in a pharmacy?
In a statement, CVS Pharmacy said that “federal orientation and state law continue with respect to vaccine administration and is monitoring any change that the government can do regarding the eligibility of the vaccine.” The Aetna insurer, which is owned by CVS, is also monitoring any change that federal officials make to the eligibility of the COVID-19 “vaccine and evaluate whether coverage adjustments are needed.”
Blue Shield of California said it will not change its practices by covering COVID-19 vaccines.
“Despite the recent federal policy change in Covid-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women, Blue Shield of California will continue to cover COVID-19 vaccines for all eligible members,” said the insurer in a statement. “The decision on whether receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is between our member and its supplier. Blue Shield does not require prior authorization for COVID-19 vaccines.”
According to California Law, health plans regulated by the State Medical Care Department must cover COVID-19 vaccines without requiring prior authorization, the agency said Friday. “If consumers access these services from a supplier on the network of their health plan, they will not need to pay anything for these services,” the statement said.
