Defenders of pregnant persons said they were alarmed by Robert F Kennedy Jr unprecedented and unilateral decision of Remove photos from Booster COVID-19 From the recommended vaccination calendar.
The inclusion of a vaccine on the calendar is important for access to patients, as many private health insurance plans determine the vaccines to be covered according to the schedule.
“The impact of COVID-19 on pregnancy is deeply personal for me,” said Dr Amanda Williams, a interim chief of March of Dimes, a non-profit organization focused on the health of mothers and babies, in a statement.
“At the height of the pandemic, I cared about a healthy patient who was 32 weeks pregnant and who is tragically died of COVID-19 despite advanced medical care. One of her last words was that she wanted to have taken the vaccine. ”
The company for maternal fetal medicine (SMFM), high-risk pregnancy experts, said in a statement that it “strongly reaffirms its recommendation that pregnant patients receive the COVVI-19 vaccine” and that the vaccine is sure to receive at any time during pregnancy.
In a press release, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) said it was “concerned about and extremely disappointed”.
“We also understand that despite the change in (health and social services) recommendations, science has not changed,” said Dr. Steven J Fleischman, president of ACOG. “It is very clear that COVVI-19 infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and cause major disability, and this can cause devastating consequences for families,” said Fleischman.
Kennedy made the announcement Tuesday on social networks, flanked by people appointed by the Trump administration at Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – none of which is generally involved in such decisions.
As a general rule, the changes to the calendar of recommended vaccines are based on an open public debate and the recommendation of an independent panel of centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the Advisory Committee for Vaccination Practices.
Kennedy’s announcement has both bypassing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its Advisory Committee, and none of the two bodies was informed of the upcoming decision, said sources Stat. The CDC is currently without leader.
A directive making the change official, also reported by Statsuggested that Kennedy examined the evidence with the FDA. The advisory committee of this agency, which is structured in the same way as CDC, has also been bypassed.
A week earlier, the FDA’s head, Dr. Marty Makary, published a just as unprecedented Article in the New England Journal of Medicine This describes recent pregnancy and pregnancy as on a list of “underlying medical conditions that can increase the risk of a serious covid-19.”
On Tuesday, the CDC website continued to assert that those pregnant run an increased risk of serious illness if they contract COVID-19, including an increased risk of hospitalization and the need for intensive care. In addition, evidence shows that mothers who are vaccinated on the protective immunity of passes to infants, without the many risks that are accompanied by a COVVI-19 infection during pregnancy.
Infants under six months run the highest risk of serious illness in children, with the risk for children under the age of four with that of adults aged 50 to 64, according to the newspaper article.
“Kennedy’s unilateral decision to modify the vaccination program recommended by the CDC for COVVI-19 vaccines demonstrates once again why it is not completely qualified as the HHS secretary,” said Dr. Robert Steinbrook, research director at Consumer Rights Group Public Citizen, in a press release.
“In the testimony of the congress on May 14, Kennedy said:” I don’t think people should take medical advice on my part “. However, two weeks later, he made arbitrary public health decisions, defying standards and without responsibility. »»
Despite the known risks of contracting COVID-19 during pregnancy, the public health authorities had trouble falling vaccinated by pregnant people. CDC data Establishments only about 14% of pregnant people have received the most recently updated COVI-19 vaccine.
Kennedy’s decision to unilaterally modify the recommendation of vaccines comes while some of his supporters, in particular the defenders of anti-vaccine, continue to request that COVVI-19 vaccines be completely withdrawn from the market.
