Following pediatrics group, OB-GYNs break with CDC in vaccine guidance
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics are diverging from the CDC’s vaccine recommendations, which no longer advise routine COVID-19 shots for healthy children and pregnant women.
On Aug. 22, ACOG published clinical guidance regarding vaccination during pregnancy. The OB-GYN group reaffirmed support for COVID-19 inoculation during pregnancy, adding that data show COVID-19 vaccines protect pregnant patients and infants from COVID-19 complications.
Three days before, the pediatrics organization released its annual vaccine recommendations. The AAP’s 2025-26 virus season guidance says children between 6 months and 2 years old should receive a COVID-19 vaccine; the CDC advises “shared clinical decision-making” between the clinician and parent or patient.
Other organizations are departing from the CDC as the agency undergoes mass layoffs and rapid changes in its vaccine review process, including an all-new Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices and barring physician organizations from ACIP’s working groups.
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis has formed the Vaccine Integrity Project, which consults with medical organizations such as the AAP to discuss vaccine recommendations.
“We’ve always just taken for granted that routine child immunizations and other vaccines would be readily available and that they would be supported by the public health system,” Michael Osterholm, PhD, an infectious disease expert and the center’s director, told NBC News in June. “Now that’s in question.”
More recently, health officials from eight states in the Northeast met the week of Aug. 18 to consider making their own vaccine recommendations, according to multiple reports. The officials represent Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
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