Health Secretary Kennedy Jr. Excludes Healthy Children and Pregnant Women from COVID-19 Vaccination Recommendations...the prospect of no free vaccination

May 28, 2025

Health Secretary Kennedy Jr. Excludes Healthy Children and Pregnant Women from COVID-19 Vaccination Recommendations...the prospect of no free vaccination
◇Robert Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said healthy children and pregnant women were excluded from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID-19 vaccination recommendations. Image=X



Amid the recent resurgence of COVID-19 in Hong Kong and China, vaccinations are recommended for the elderly and the weak, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., known as the "Vaccine Skeptic," announced on the 27th (local time) that healthy children and pregnant women were excluded from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) COVID-19 vaccination recommendations.

The video released on X was accompanied by Dr. Marty Makary, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health.

In this regard, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and others are concerned that the decision could make it more difficult for millions of Americans to get vaccinated. Children and pregnant women who are excluded from the CDC's recommendation for vaccination are unlikely to be able to receive the vaccine free of charge as before. This is because insurance companies in the United States determine insurance coverage based on CDC recommendations. Uninsured children have been able to get vaccinated for free through government-run public programs, but many local governments have ended vaccination clinics as support has been suspended due to significant cuts in the federal healthcare budget. Pfizer and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine costs up to $150 (about 210,000 won).




Experts say that pregnant women are also vulnerable to respiratory viruses such as COVID-19 due to changes in the immune system during pregnancy and have a high risk of complications such as pneumonia if infected with the virus.

However, since Kennedy Jr. took office, U.S. health officials have implemented policies to restrict the spread of COVID-19 vaccines. Earlier, the FDA required vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna to expand their myocarditis risk warning labels for COVID-19 vaccines, and said they would not approve COVID-19 variant vaccines without additional clinical trials.






This article was translated by Naver AI translator.