What We Know About RFK’s Claim to Reduce Access to COVID Vaccine
If you were considering getting a COVID vaccine during pregnancy to protect yourself and your unborn baby from the virus, it may soon become difficult or impossible. According to a short video posted on X , U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is also a prominent anti-vaccine activist , said the COVID-19 vaccine “has been removed” from the list of vaccines recommended during pregnancy, as well as from the list of vaccines recommended for healthy children. The announcement bypasses the normal regulatory process, and it’s unclear exactly what will happen next, but here’s what we know.
The ad may not be entirely accurate.
RFK Jr. made the announcement in a video where he stood next to NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and FDA Commissioner Marty Makary. Notably, no one from the CDC was present. The FDA approves vaccines, but the CDC is responsible for making recommendations. (It’s unclear who, if any , the CDC’s acting director actually is.)
Typically, the CDC has an advisory group called the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) that reviews scientific evidence to make recommendations about vaccines. They vote on whether a given vaccine should be recommended to everyone in a group of people. Their decisions are then relayed to CDC leadership, who make the final decision on whether the vaccine will be officially recommended for that group.
The CDC does not routinely add or remove vaccines from the recommended list without consultation with the ACIP, and they are definitely not added or removed by posting a video on Twitter.
Dorit Reiss, a law professor who specializes in vaccine policy, wrote on LinkedIn that the announcement may be invalid unless it is immediately followed by supporting documentation. She says, “Under administrative law, to avoid being deemed arbitrary and capricious, an agency’s decision must meet certain criteria, including an explanation of the facts the agency found, the relationship between the facts and the decision, etc. A one-minute video on Twitter won’t exactly get you there.”
At this time, the CDC’s webpage on vaccines recommended during pregnancy still states that “a pregnant woman should be vaccinated against pertussis, influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).” COVID vaccines are still on the adult and childhood immunization schedules .
Oddly, this move from the CDC contradicts one we recently reported from the FDA . The FDA plans to require additional steps (possibly unethical and/or impractical) to approve new COVID vaccines for healthy children and adults. But those steps do not apply to people who are at high risk for COVID complications. The FDA’s policy statement included a list of these high-risk health conditions, including pregnancy.
Why it matters which vaccines are “recommended”
Recommending a vaccine isn’t just an opinion; the Affordable Care Act requires that ACIP-recommended vaccines be covered by most private insurance and Medicaid expansion plans without cost sharing. That means no deductibles or copays — so these vaccines should be free to you if you fall into the group of people for whom they’re recommended.
Recommended vaccines include all routine childhood vaccines, plus the seasonal flu shot and other vaccines recommended for adults, pregnant women, etc. Full schedules can be found here . If you’ve had a COVID, flu, tetanus, shingles shot — its inclusion on this list is why you (probably) got it for free.
So, leaving a vaccine off the recommended list means it could be prohibitively expensive. GoodRX, which tracks pharmacy prices, reports that COVID shots can cost $200 or more out of pocket , plus any applicable administrative fees the provider may charge.
Deleting a vaccine from the recommended list may also mean it won’t be covered by the Vaccines for Children program , which provides free vaccines to children who aren’t covered by health insurance.
Whether or not the vaccine is actually removed from the list, the recent announcement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has another consequence: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a statement, “Following this announcement, we are concerned about the future of our patients, who may be less likely to choose vaccination during pregnancy, despite clear and overwhelming evidence of its benefit.”
The ACOG statement also points out several ways in which excluding vaccines from the recommended list is not “common sense and good science,” as the HHS statement claimed. ACOG writes, “As obstetricians and gynecologists who care for 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. We also recognize that despite the change in HHS guidance, the science has not changed. It is clear that COVID infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to serious disability, and can have devastating consequences for families.”