US Vaccine Advisory Panel Withdraws Covid-19 Vaccine Recommendation for Adults

Tue Sep 23 2025 07:33:32 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has voted against recommending the Covid-19 vaccine for adults, reflecting a significant shift in public health policy amid ongoing debates about vaccine effectiveness.

The US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has officially ceased recommending the Covid-19 vaccine for all adults, reversing years of routine vaccinations amid controversies surrounding vaccine safety and effectiveness. The decision follows leadership changes and ongoing debates on multiple vaccine recommendations, stirring confusion and concern amongst health professionals and the public.

A key US vaccine advisory committee has voted to stop recommending all adults get the Covid-19 vaccine, which has until now been officially approved for most Americans annually since the pandemic.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (Acip) also narrowly voted against advocating prescriptions for the Covid vaccine.

In two days of meetings, Acip changed its recommendations on the combined measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (MMRV) vaccine, and delayed plans for a vote on the hepatitis B vaccine.

Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine sceptic, fired all 17 members of the committee in June and handpicked their successors, sparking uproar in the medical community.

The panel spent Friday debating the Covid-19 vaccine, which has for the past several years been a routine recommendation, like the yearly flu jab.

Acip voted to abandon broad support for recommending the jab, including for high-risk populations like people aged over 65. Instead, it decided they could make their own decision after talking with a medical professional.

In May, the federal government stopped recommending Covid-19 vaccines for healthy pregnant women and children.

In one exchange on Friday, Kennedy's ally Dr Robert Malone argued there was no evidence that the Covid vaccine prevented serious infection, while Dr Cody Meissner, once part of the FDA's vaccines panel, argued that data supports the jab's effectiveness.

The discussion also touched upon the MMRV vaccine, leading to confusion over endorsements for separate jabs for measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella after previous recommendations were rejected.

The American Medical Association noted that the new MMRV recommendations leave parents confused.

The committee also delayed a decision on whether newborns whose mothers have tested negative for hepatitis B should automatically receive a jab for the virus, amidst ongoing scrutiny over the hepatitis B vaccine's safety and necessity.

Since taking office, Robert F Kennedy Jr's agenda, including considerable changes to the CDC's advisories, has drawn extensive criticism from health experts concerned about vaccine safety amidst his public skepticism.