Health experts fear potential public health impacts from RFK Jr. halting COVID vaccine recommendations for kids, pregnant women
Health experts are raising concerns about the potential public health impacts after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy announced the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is rolling back COVID-19 vaccination recommendations for kids and pregnant women.
Just one week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced they are limiting access to who can get the COVID-19 vaccine, Kennedy said he would remove the CDC's recommendation for "healthy" children and "healthy" pregnant women to get vaccinated.
Kennedy called the latest move "common sense and good science", but some health experts said the restrictions could have some significant public health impacts.
Chicago-area doctors call this change unscientific and "incorrect."
So, how could this impact people?
First, what is considered "healthy?"
Before, most people would be able to walk into a pharmacy or doctor's office, ask, and receive their COVID-19 vaccine, just like the annual flu shot. Now, the FDA has limited its recommendation to "people over 65" or people who have "underlying conditions." Kennedy declared on Tuesday that the CDC will remove the recommendation for "healthy" children and pregnant women.
Under these explanations, a "healthy" person would not have a listed underlying condition and would be under the age of 65.
The full list of conditions can be found here, which includes asthma, cancer, diabetes, HIV, but also smoking, physical inactivity, and certain mental health conditions, like anxiety and depression.
"Which would mean that almost every American would fit into these categories anyway," said Dr. Emily Landon, an infectious disease expert at University of Chicago Medicine.
Contradiction in the recommendations
"Pregnancy and recent pregnancy" are on the list of underlying conditions.
Yet Kennedy announced that the CDC won't recommend the COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant people, directly contradicting an article published by the FDA's Dr. Vinay Prasad and Dr. Martin Makary.
In the article's figure, pregnancy is listed as a condition that "increases a person's risk for severe COVID-19.
"[Their announcement] doesn't even go with what the evidence shows in their New England Journal thought piece," Dr. Landon said.
Pregnancy and COVID risks
According to CDC data, pregnant people with symptomatic COVID-19 have a 70% increased risk of death, and COVID-19 during pregnancy increases the risk of adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes, including preterm birth and admission of the baby into the ICU.
Some other examples of this would be pre-eclampsia, heart injury, blood clots, high blood pressure, and kidney damage, according to Dr. Tina Tan, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Lurie Children's Hospital.
"COVID-19 is not a virus to play around with," she said.
A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that infants and toddlers with a history of COVID-19 were more likely to experience trouble sleeping, fussiness, poor appetite, stuffy nose, cough, and low energy. Among the toddlers and infants who had COVID-19, 14% were classified as having probable Long COVID.
"There are also some healthy children, especially under 6 months, who have never seen COVID before, and they get all of their antibodies for COVID from their mothers, which are transferred via the placenta during pregnancy. That is why it is recommended by everyone, including [the FDA doctors] recommendations, that pregnant women be offered vaccine," Dr. Landon said.
The World Health Organization also recommends that pregnant women in every country receive the COVID-19 vaccine to pass the antibodies along to newborns.
"A newborn baby has the same likelihood of hospitalization and death as someone who is about 70 years old," Landon said.
As of May 28, the HHS website still recommends COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant and expecting mothers, stating that, "getting a COVID-19 vaccine can protect you and others around you from getting very sick from COVID-19, and keeping you as healthy as possible during pregnancy is important for the health of your baby."
Why "healthy" people get vaccines
"It's much safer to get your immunity to SARS-CoV-2 from a vaccine than from getting unvaccinated COVID. So that's one big hole I found in this policy," said Dr. Katine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
According to the CDC and WHO data, getting vaccinated doesn't prevent getting infected with COVID, but vaccinating "healthy" populations reduces the risk for hospitalization, death, severe disease, and Long COVID.
But even a mild or asymptomatic case of COVID in a healthy person can increase the risk for health complications like heart attack, stroke, or Long COVID.
"In fact, the CDC has presented data that, of children who are hospitalized for COVID-19, about 50% of those kids had no underlying condition putting them at risk for that hospitalization. So vaccination becomes important, because it's not easy to risk profile children like it is with adults," Dr. Wallace said.
During the 2024-2025 respiratory virus season, more than 300,000 people were hospitalized for COVID-19, and more than 30,000 people died from COVID-19. The latest data shows COVID-19 is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., and is among the top 10 causes of death in children.
Insurance barriers
"The one issue that comes up is whether or not all the insurance companies will pay for the vaccine based on these very incorrect guidelines that RFK Jr. released," said Tan.
"Insurance payers aren't going to want to pay for the vaccine because they don't have to now that the FDA is saying they do not have to cover it," said Wallace.
The doctors worry it will create barriers for all groups.
"So people that cannot afford the vaccine, even if they have access to it through their doctor, will have a cost barrier," Wallace said.
"Are patients going to need a prescription from their doctor? Even then, are we sure it is going to be covered by insurance? It is a lot of hurdles," Landon said.
As of May 27, most insurance companies said they are still covering COVID-19 vaccines as preventive care, but health experts said they're concerned about how the new change will impact healthy children and pregnant women.
In a statement on May 28, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois said, "COVID-19 vaccine coverage depends on the plan and type. At this time, BCBSIL has not implemented any changes to existing preventive coverage for vaccines. Members may call the number on their insurance card for additional information."
Untraditional recommendation announcement
When the FDA approves a vaccine, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets in an open forum with a comment period. Then, they vote on the recommendation, and the CDC director can either accept or override the panel.
"This process took the CDC out of the process," Wallace said. "And we were assured during the kind of confirmation hearings for the HHS director that vaccines would not be taken away from people, and that's essentially what this is doing."
"They did not give the recommendations in the way someone making a public health recommendation would give them," Landon said. "We would give a lot of specifics and explanation."
Vaccination rates and stats in Chicago
As of May 24, 2025, only 13.4% of the city was up to date on their COVID vaccine. Within the "high-risk" groups, 27.6% of 65-74 and 32.1% of people 75 and older were up to date. Around 8% of kids between 0 and 11 are vaccinated.
The Chicago Department of Public Health stopped tracking COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in May 2024, after the CDC made it optional for hospitals to report this data.
New COVID variant emerging
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is monitoring six new COVID-19 variants, including NB.1.8.1.
"Viruses that mutate rapidly, like COVID-19's virus or influenza, undergo frequent mutations leading to changes in their surface proteins. As a result, the immune system's memory becomes less effective over time, requiring new vaccines on a regular basis," Dr. Wallace said.
The symptoms of NB.1.8.1 are pretty similar to other strains, but some reports say people have experienced what feels like "razor blade throat."
If someone needs access to other tools, such as masking and rapid tests, people in Chicago can access these through Collective Air and Chicago Mask Bloc.
What's next?
Last week, the FDA said it would continue approving COVID-19 vaccine updates for seniors and people with an underlying medical condition, including pregnancy and diabetes, but would require vaccine makers to conduct major new clinical trials before approving them for wider use. The decision means many Americans without underlying conditions might not have access to updated shots this fall.
As far as Chicago Public Schools are concerned, for the current school year, the COVID-19 vaccine is only recommended and not required for students.
District officials said the COVID-19 vaccine will remain a part of the federal and state vaccines for children program, despite the clinical eligibility guidelines that have recently changed. If the Illinois Department of Public Health updates its guidelines, CPS will follow suit.
IDPH said that they are "carefully" evaluating the new federal guidelines. "We are examining Illinois-specific data on COVID-19 risks and outcomes to determine whether additional guidance may be necessary to protect the most vulnerable populations, especially during respiratory illness season. As always, we are working closely with medical experts and public health partners to ensure our recommendations reflect the best available science and safeguard the health of all Illinoisans," said an IDPH spokesperson.
In a statement by Cook County Health, the department said that "we know the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and works. We are analyzing what this announcement means for access to vaccination and coverage. Everyone who wants to protect their health and the health of others should have access to vaccines, despite this news. We will continue to follow the science and promote vaccination as a key tool to keeping our communities safe and healthy. Vaccination should be available for anyone who wants it even as we emphasize the high-risk groups that need it most."
Despite these changes, a handful of grassroots organizations in Chicago continue to create COVID-19-safer spaces and events.
