Fact Check: "Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered changes to the CDC's vaccine recommendations in May 2025, excluding children and pregnant women without underlying health conditions."
What We Know
On May 27, 2025, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women without underlying health conditions. This announcement was made via a post on social media and was later confirmed by multiple news sources, including CBS News and NBC News. The decision was met with significant backlash from the medical community, including pediatricians and public health experts, who criticized the move as potentially harmful and based on questionable scientific evidence (NPR, CNN).
The announcement was part of a broader shift in vaccine policy that Kennedy initiated, which included the removal of all experts from the CDC's vaccine advisory panel (New York Times). The changes were justified by Kennedy through a document sent to Congress that cited various studies, although many experts have labeled this document as containing "junk science" and misinterpretations of legitimate research (NPR, CNN).
Analysis
The claim that Kennedy ordered changes to the CDC's vaccine recommendations is substantiated by multiple credible sources. The announcement was widely reported and confirmed by reputable news outlets such as The Washington Post and NBC News. The details of the policy change, specifically the exclusion of healthy children and pregnant women from vaccine recommendations, were explicitly stated in Kennedy's announcement and echoed in subsequent reports.
Critics of the decision have raised concerns about the scientific validity of the studies cited in support of the new recommendations. For instance, the document sent to Congress has been criticized for distorting research findings and relying on studies that are either unpublished or under dispute (NPR, CNN). Experts have pointed out that this approach is consistent with Kennedy's previous advocacy against vaccines, suggesting a pattern of cherry-picking data to support pre-existing beliefs (NPR).
The reliability of the sources reporting this information is generally high, given that they include established news organizations and expert opinions from the medical community. However, it is important to note that Kennedy's past as an anti-vaccine activist may introduce bias into his statements and the rationale behind the policy changes.
Conclusion
Verdict: True
The claim that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered changes to the CDC's vaccine recommendations in May 2025, excluding children and pregnant women without underlying health conditions, is true. This decision was officially announced and confirmed by multiple reputable sources, despite facing significant criticism from the medical community regarding its scientific basis.
Sources
- June 10, 2025 The Honorable Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ...
- RFK Jr. defends changing COVID vaccine schedule ...
- Kennedy Removes All C.D.C. Vaccine Panel Experts
- RFK Jr. says CDC will no longer recommend COVID ...
- RFK Jr. says CDC will no longer recommend COVID-19 ...
- CDC ends Covid vaccine recommendation for healthy kids ...
- Kennedy's HHS sent Congress 'junk science' to defend ...
- CDC official overseeing COVID hospitalization data ...
