CDC Stops Recommending COVID-19 Vaccines for Pregnant Women and Children

Shidonna Raven
5 hours ago
2 min read

Updated May 27, 2025

Source: Time

Photo / Image Source: Unsplash,

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is no longer recommending the COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant women and healthy children, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a video on his X account on May 27. “We’re now one step closer to realizing President Trump’s promise to Make American Healthy Again," said Kennedy, who was flanked by Dr. Martin Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, head of the National Institutes of Health.

The announcement reverses previous CDC advice. At the time of the announcement, the CDC’s webpage still contained its earlier recommendation that everyone ages six months and older get vaccinated, and that “getting the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine is especially important if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant, or might become pregnant in the future.”

Public-health experts immediately pushed back against the announcement. “Despite the change in recommendations from HHS, the science has not changed," said Dr. Steven Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, in a press statement. "It is very clear that COVID infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability, and it can cause devastating consequences for families. The COVID vaccine is safe during pregnancy and vaccination can protect our patients and their infants.”

Dr. Tina Tan, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), added in a statement that COVID-19 can increase the risk of "preterm labor and birth, preeclampsia, heart injury, blood clots, hypertension and kidney damage" for pregnant women.

The makers of the most-administered COVID-19 vaccines—Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna—did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But in response to the FDA's other recent restriction of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility, Pfizer said it "[stood] by the science behind the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and continue to believe that broad vaccination programs are an essential tool for helping to prevent COVID-19 associated hospitalizations and severe disease, including death," while Moderna said it "remain[ed] committed to working with the Agency to provide the data they need to ensure access for Americans."

Here's what to know about the unusual reversal in guidance.

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