Earlier this week, Minister of Health and Humanitarian Services, Robert F. Kennedy Junior, in a video posted on X, said that COVID-19 vaccines for “healthy children and pregnant people”.
In the video, the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Dr. Marti Macari, said that there is no evidence that healthy children “need” the vaccine. The National Health Director, Jay Bahtasharia, also appeared in the video.
Public health experts said they were surprised by the way the decision was announced.
“The risks are real between Covid, but in general, for a healthy child otherwise, bad things on the low side,” said Dr. Gregory Poland, vaccine specialist, vaccine head and co -manager of the atrial research institute, which focuses on disease prevention.
“But you have to remember that the risk of vaccine is still less,” continued. “You can get the vaccine and injury, but the infection will be much less severe, or you cannot get the vaccine and infection much higher than the disease, complications and even the risk of death.”
Covid risks in children
The current Covid-19 vaccine, which was updated 2024-25, was until soon It is recommended to all Americans Ages 6 months and above.
While those with one or more circumstances are at greater risk than severe CovD, anyone who develops the virus can enter the hospital, suffer severe and die.
On June 21, 2022, a file image, a child gets a Covid-19 vaccination from a nurse on the ground of the Santa Clara province exhibitions in San Jose, California.
Jane Tyska/The Mercury News via the Medianews group via Getty Images, file
When the Consultative Committee for Iris -Evidence at the ACIP Center, which provides advice and guidance on the control of diseases that can be canceled on vaccines, provided data at its last meeting, “it showed that 152 children died last year from Covid. 40 % of these children were completely healthy.”
“Therefore [Kennedy] He says he does not recommend a vaccine for healthy children, who fly in the face of data.
Offit explained that ACIP is usually the one that discusses if there is an annual vaccine benefit and who should get it. The Independent Consultative Committee then submits recommendations to the Center for Disease Control, which has the final statement about who should get the vaccine.
“This is not the way this matter was done. You have mainly you have three men standing at a small event on Twitter, which makes this advertisement … without any inputs from the audience, without any inputs of experts, only these three people, specifically RFK JR. in the center.”
There is also a risk of long -term side effects even in healthy children, according to experts.
As of 2023, more than a million American Covid children may have been affected at some point, found a study conducted on the Center for Disease Control in February.
As the survey was performed, about 293,000 children were suffering from this condition.
“About a million American children, they have, they have, they have [had] Poland said, “If you get the vaccine, you can reduce this risk. Get the vaccine reduces ER visits and hospitalization is about 40 %.”
A CDC studyIn February, it was found that the Covid MRNA vaccination reduced the risk of at least one or two of the long kwed symptoms in children between the ages of 5 and 17.
Poland and Offit said there is also a benefit from society from vaccination. When healthy children are vaccinated, it protects the weak community members from infection.
Although immunity fades, the Covid-19 vaccines temporarily provides some protection against the transmission.
Poland said: “I would like to say that the basic benefit is for the actual child who is immunized. There is a secondary, but transient, confessed, for society,” said Poland. “Protection against a short -term transmission. It is present for a period of time. It exists, but it is passing. But when you do it through society, you get additional advantages.”
Questions remain in a new policy
Ofit said it is unclear whether Kennedy’s advertisement means that the center of diseases control will no longer recommend Covid vaccines to the healthy children who were previously vaccinated or so far to vaccines or if the advertisement applies to all children regardless of the vaccination.
“I assume what he says is that healthy children who have been fully vaccinated do not necessarily benefit from an annual vaccine,” said Ofit. “If this is what it means, this is what he should say. He did not say annual doses.
Minister of Health and Humanitarian Services Robert F. Kennedy Junior, stands next to the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marti Macari and the National Director of Health Director Jay Bhatcharia, who was seen in a position on X where he announced the removal of the Covid-19 vaccine from the centers of diseases control and prevention of healthy children.
Health and humanitarian services via x
Federal health officials also did not explain what the “healthy” children mean, which experts said that it must lead to some confusion.
Poland said this because Kennedy made previous public comments on the rate of increasing chronic diseases in children, which may mean that it is considered to be many “unhealthy” children.
For example, in the report of the Make Americana Committee at the White House again on chronic diseases, which was published last week, he pointed to an unveiled study that it is claimed to have found that 77 % of American youth are not qualified for military service due to chronic conditions.
“This says, in fact, 77 % of the childhood population in the United States is not healthy,” Poland said.
