Particle.news
Download on the App Store
9 ARTICLES
·
1h ago

AAP Recommends COVID Vaccines for Infants and Toddlers, Breaking With Federal Guidance

The move ends roughly three decades of routine alignment with federal vaccine schedules.

FILE - A pharmacist holds a Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shot on Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
Shivani Agarwal, left, sits with her daughter daughter Kiran, 3, during the observation period after Kiran was inoculated with the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children 6 months through 4 years old, Tuesday, June 21, 2022, at Montefiore Medical Group in the Bronx borough of New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Image
Image

Overview

  • The American Academy of Pediatrics urges vaccination for children 6 to 23 months and for older minors who are at high risk, live in congregate care, have never been vaccinated, or share a home with someone at high risk.
  • Federal guidance under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. does not recommend COVID-19 shots for healthy children and instead relies on shared clinical decision-making with physicians.
  • AAP leaders say infants and toddlers face the highest risk of severe COVID-19 among children and that vaccination can help prevent serious illness.
  • Because many insurers and the Vaccines for Children program follow CDC and ACIP recommendations, the split could lead to out-of-pocket costs or uneven access unless payers choose to cover the shots.
  • The usual federal advisory process was reshaped when the CDC’s 17-member panel was dismissed and replaced with a smaller group that has not voted on COVID-19 guidance.