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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/strong> announced Tuesday that the Department of Health and Human Services will no longer recommend that \u201chealthy\u201d pregnant women and children receive the COVID vaccine, despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently advising that all Americans six months and older receive the updated vaccine, and warning that pregnancy puts people at risk of becoming seriously ill from the virus, as well as suffering serious pregnancy complications.<\/p>\n In a sub-60-second video posted on X, Kennedy\u2014who has said<\/a> his brain was partially eaten by a worm that crawled inside and died\u2014smiles while declaring he \u201ccouldn\u2019t 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.\u201d He adds: \u201cWe\u2019re now one step closer to realizing President Trump\u2019s promise to make America healthy again.\u201d<\/p>\n This content can also be viewed on the site it originates<\/a> from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya,<\/strong> who also appears in the video, as does Food and Drug Administration commissioner Martin Makary,<\/strong> calls the decision \u201ccommon sense\u201d and \u201cgood science.\u201d Makary claims, \u201cThere\u2019s no evidence healthy kids need it today, and most countries have stopped recommending it for children.\u201d<\/p>\n As The Washington Post<\/em> notes<\/a>, \u201cthe social media post did not offer a detailed explanation about the move.\u201d Georges C. Benjamin,<\/strong> the executive director of the American Public Health Association, told the outlet he was unaware of any data supporting Kennedy and Co.\u2019s claims. \u201cAre they making this decision without going to any of their advisory committees?\u201d Benjamin said. \u201cShow us the evidence, the studies that have been done.\u2026 I don\u2019t know of any.\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, the CDC has previously said pregnant people are at higher risk of becoming very ill from COVID and are at an increased risk of pregnancy complications\u2014including stillbirth. Last year, a study from the Cleveland Clinic, published in The EMBO Journal,<\/em> showed<\/a> that \u201cmild and asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections can trigger immune responses in a pregnant individual that may cause serious inflammatory responses in the developing fetus.\u201d Receiving the vaccine during pregnancy also provides protection<\/a> for newborn babies, who are at high risk of developing serious complications. \u201cIt\u2019s really concerning,\u201d\u00a0Sean O\u2019Leary,<\/strong> MD, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics\u2019 Committee on Infectious Diseases, told NPR<\/a>. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to be confusing not only for parents but also for public health professionals and medical professionals as well. This takes away choice.\u201d Steven J. Fleischman,<\/strong> MD, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in a statement, \u201cAs ob-gyns who treat patients every day, we have seen firsthand how dangerous COVID infection can be during pregnancy and for newborns who depend on maternal antibodies from the vaccine for protection. The science has not changed. It is very clear that COVID infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability.”<\/p>\n Currently, the CDC website states<\/a> that COVID vaccination for children \u201cis safe,\u201d\u00a0that \u201cgetting vaccinated helps protect children against COVID-19,\u201c and that \u201cchildren who have already had COVID-19 should still get vaccinated.\u201d Last year, a study published<\/a> in JAMA<\/em> concluded that its \u201canalysis of 3,913,063 cases suggest reduced pediatric SARS-CoV-2 transmission following immunization,\u201d and that \u201cthese results support the use of COVID-19 vaccines to reduce COVID-19 incidence and hospitalization in pediatric populations.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nX content<\/h4>\n