The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is urging that children as young as six months and up to 23 months old receive the Covid-19 vaccine – a position that diverges from the current federal guidance given by the Trump administration’s health agencies.
The AAP released its updated childhood immunization schedule, which outlines recommendations for vaccines against Covid-19, influenza and RSV for individuals under 18.
“It differs from recent recommendations of the advisory committee on immunization practices of the CDC, which was overhauled this year and replaced with individuals who have a history of spreading vaccine misinformation,” the organization said in a statement.
The announcement follows a decision from health and human services secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr in late May to halt CDC recommendations for healthy children to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Previously, the CDC advised vaccination for everyone six months and older with the latest available dose.
The CDC currently advises that Covid-19 vaccinations for children aged six months through 17 years should be determined through “shared clinical decision-making”.
The AAP recommends vaccination for anyone under 18 who is at higher risk of serious illness from Covid-19, resides in a longterm care or congregate living facility, has not previously been vaccinated, or shares a household with someone at elevated risk.
“The academy has been making pediatric immunization recommendations since the 1930s, that has not changed,” Dr Susan Kressly, president of the AAP, told ABC News.
“But what has changed is that this year, we’re doing it in the environment of misinformation, which makes it more important than ever that we provide clear and confident guidance, because the majority of American families really depend on us for this guidance.”
AAP says infants and toddlers between six and 23 months face the greatest risk for severe outcomes from Covid-19 and vaccination offers protection against serious illness.
Even as medical groups continue to disagree with federal agencies, insurers often base coverage on guidelines from the CDC’s advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP). If ACIP declines to endorse a vaccine, families may have to pay out of pocket, and the shot may not be provided through the federally funded Vaccines for Children program.
The US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) communications director, Andrew Nixon, responded to the AAP’s updated recommendations with the following statement:
“The American people deserve confidence that medical recommendations are based solely on science and public health. We call on the AAP to strengthen conflict-of-interest safeguards and keep its publications free from financial influence, ensuring every recommendation reflects only the best interests of America’s children. Instead, the AAP is undermining national immunization policymaking with baseless political attacks.”
The statement continues: “Secretary Kennedy has stood firm in his commitment to science, transparency, and restoring public trust. By bypassing the CDC’s advisory process and freelancing its own recommendations, while smearing those who demand accountability, the AAP is putting commercial interests ahead of public health and politics above America’s children.”
Kennedy’s restructured vaccine panel has maintained support for annual flu shots but voted to limit them to single-dose formulations without the preservative thimerosal.
The AAP, however, maintains that the preservative poses no risk and said physicians should administer any approved flu vaccine suitable for the patient.
