Trump's Trials - COVID shots no longer recommended for healthy kids and pregnant women, RFK Jr. says

Episode Date: May 28, 2025

The federal government has removed COVID-19 vaccines from the list of shots recommended for healthy pregnant women and children. The change is raising concerns among some independent experts.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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NPR News Now podcast, we take the latest most important stories happening and we package them into five-minute episodes so you can easily squeeze them in between meetings and on your way to that thing. Listen to the NPR News Now podcast, now. I'm Steve Inskeep. And I'm Michelle Martin. The federal government is no longer recommending that healthy pregnant women and healthy children routinely get vaccinated against COVID-19. Federal health officials say this change makes sense

at this point in the pandemic. Independent experts have a different view. NPR health correspondent Rob Stein is with us now with the details. Good morning, Rob. Good morning, Michelle. So this seems to represent a different view. NPR health correspondent Rob Stein is with us now with the details. Good morning Rob. Good morning Michelle. So this seems to represent a big change. Do we have any more details about this? Yes that's a huge change but no we don't have a lot of details unfortunately. That's because all we know is what federal officials said during a 58 second video the Department of Health and Human Services posted on X. Here's

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in that video. I couldn't be more pleased to announce that as of today the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule. He was flanked in that video by Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin McCary and National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, who basically both seconded Kennedy's decision without much explanation. And federal officials didn't answer any specific questions from NPR or a request for follow-up interviews. So to this point they didn't explain the decision at all? Well, Kennedy says that there was no evidence that repeated boosters help healthy kids,

kids with no risk factors, and FDA Commissioner McCary agreed. Here's what he said. There's no evidence healthy kids need it today, and most countries have stopped recommending it for children. And you know, while that might be true, in this country this change still is raising a lot of concerns among independent experts. Okay well say more about that if you would. What are those concerns? Well one big one is that the decision appears to have been made without going through the normal process of getting input from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's independent advisors. They've been mauling over this very

question and are scheduled to meet next month to review all the evidence and make recommendations about this. And beyond that, outside experts are worried what this means for the health and safety of pregnant people, kids, and their families. Okay, so let me ask you about that. Do healthy pregnant women and kids still need regular COVID boosters and what if they want them? Well, one big question is will insurance companies still pay for the shots and will people be able to afford it if they don't? Because if the vaccines aren't recommended, insurance companies may very well not pay

for them. Most healthy older kids are at low risk for serious complications from COVID and most parents haven't been getting their kids vaccinated, but some parents still want to immunize their kids, you know, to protect them against even mild disease and long COVID and from bringing the virus home to vulnerable family members like, you know, grandma and grandpa. And pregnant women are at very high risk of serious complications from the virus. And that's not all. Their newborn babies are in great danger of getting really sick from COVID,

and they're too young to get the shots themselves. The only way to protect them is to vaccinate their moms while they're pregnant so the babies can get antibodies in the womb. I talked about this with Dr. Naima Joseph from the Boston Medical Center. She advises the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. You know, it really preys upon pregnant people because they're just trying to make the best decisions for themselves, for their babies, for their families. And you know, she says this puts pregnant people in a really sticky situation. That is NPR health correspondent Rob Stein. Rob, thank you.

You bet, Michelle. Nice to be here. Before we wrap up, a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration on the NPR Politics Podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsor messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org.

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