Fact-checking claims on COVID-19 vaccine recommendations

MANCHESTER, N.H. —

An announcement in the form of a video posted by Health and Humans Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr., flanked by the heads of the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health, discussed new recommendations about the COVID-19 vaccine for children and pregnant women.

WMUR’s partners at PolitiFact say some of the claims made by Kennedy are at odds with medical science.

Experts say a lack of an official recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control for certain groups could make it harder for most children and pregnant women to get the shot, especially if insurers now decide to no longer cover it.

Lou Jacobson, PolitiFact’s chief correspondent, said his team found that the data vary when it comes to the two populations mentioned in the video. For healthy children and the COVID-19 vaccines, Jacobson said the claims made in the video are true that most other countries have stopped recommending routine vaccination for the virus.

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Countries like the United Kingdom are more focused on groups at higher risk for serious complications. Jacobson said that’s because the data show most children will not become seriously sick from COVID-19, although other experts noted the risk of long COVID needs to be factored in.

When it comes to Kennedy’s claim that pregnant women shouldn’t get the COVID-19 vaccine, that’s a different story.

“This may be the area where we saw the largest split between Kennedy and scientists,” Jacobson said. “Scientists say there are good protections for both the mother and fetus from getting vaccinated for COVID, and no sign that there are significant negative side effects. A review last year of 67 studies found that fully vaccinated pregnant women had a 61% lower likelihood of getting a COVID-19 infection.”

A federal advisory panel meets next month, and there are signs that it could move toward less sweeping recommendations. The advisers could add in more flexibility than Kennedy is recommending, possibly saying that people should get the vaccine if they are caregivers for or share living space with people who are older or who have health concerns.