American Academy Of Pediatrics Pushes COVID-19 Vax For All Infants

In stark contrast to reality, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) – which is heavily funded by pharmaceutical companies, recommended on Tuesday that young children, including infants, receive the COVID-19 vaccine despite the fact that children are minimally impacted by the virus, the fact that the vaccine doesn’t prevent one from contracting it, and that it largely only helps the elderly and medically fragile from severe cases.

A 1-year-old child receives a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination in Seattle, Wash., on June 21, 2022. David Ryder/Getty Images

According to the organization, all children ages 6-23 months should receive the COVID-19 vaccine – regardless of whether they have natural immunity from prior infection, unless they have a contraindication such as a history of severe allergic reaction to a vaccine ingredient. 

While the recommendation is universal, the group said in a statement that their recommendation stems from infants and other children who are “at high risk for severe COVID-19.”

As the Epoch Times notes further, the organization pointed, in part, to a paper it published that found that among children hospitalized for COVID-19 from fall 2022 to spring 2024, the majority of those younger than 2 had no underlying conditions.

Of note, the paper cited surveyed 2,490 children who were hospitalized with COVID-19, effectively a rounding error. 

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC’s parent agency, told The Epoch Times in an email that the AAP, which receives funding from vaccine manufacturers, should strengthen its conflict-of-interest safeguards.

“By bypassing the CDC’s advisory process and freelancing its own recommendations, while smearing those who demand accountability, the AAP is putting commercial interests ahead of public health and politics above America’s children,” Andrew Nixon, the spokesman, said.

The CDC used to recommend that all children, except for those younger than 6 months, receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

In May, under orders from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the CDC stopped recommending the vaccine for healthy children and pregnant women.

The CDC’s schedule currently states that children with moderately or severely compromised immune systems should receive a vaccine, even if they’ve been vaccinated before.

Children who do not have weakened immune systems “may receive COVID-19 vaccination, informed by the clinical judgment of a healthcare provider and personal preference and circumstances,” the schedule states.

“There’s no evidence healthy kids need it today, and most countries have stopped recommending it for children,” Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary said when the schedule was changed.

Many countries, including the UK and Australia, no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for most or all children.

The AAP, which previously recommended COVID-19 vaccination for all children 6 months and older, now advises the vaccine for people ages 2 to 18 who meet one of four criteria: they are at high risk of severe illness, live in crowded settings such as long-term care facilities, have never been vaccinated against COVID-19, or live with someone at high risk.

Children who do not fall into any of those categories are not advised to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. At the same time, if a parent or guardian wishes, the child “should be offered” a single dose, according to the recommendations.

“The AAP will continue to provide recommendations for immunizations that are rooted in science and are in the best interest of the health of infants, children and adolescents,” Dr. Susan Kressly, AAP’s president, said in a statement.

AAP has about 67,000 members, including pediatricians, in the United States and other countries. Its funders include Pfizer and Moderna, which manufacture two of the three COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States.

Insurance Coverage

After the government narrowed its recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines, the AAP and some other organizations said they were worried that insurers would stop covering vaccines for children and pregnant women.

Many insurers, as well as Medicaid and Medicare, are required to cover vaccines in the CDC’s schedule.

“As we navigate an evolving health care landscape, maintaining robust immunization coverage continues to be a top priority for protecting both individual and community health,” AHIP, a trade group for insurers, said in a joint statement after the COVID-19 vaccine recommendations were changed.

“We are committed to ongoing coverage of vaccines to ensure access and affordability for this respiratory virus season. We encourage all Americans to talk to their health care provider about vaccines.”

Kressly said on Tuesday that the AAP is urging insurers to cover the vaccines in the organization’s schedule.

“AAP is committed to working with our partners at the local, state and federal levels to make sure every child, in every community has access to vaccines,” she said.

Some states have maintained universal COVID-19 vaccine recommendations.

Other critics of the CDC’s updated schedule also plan on releasing their own recommendations.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, for instance, said it will release recommendations on maternal immunizations at the end of the summer in collaboration with the Vaccine Integrity Project, an effort established this year by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and led by Dr. Michael Osterholm, a former adviser to President Joe Biden.

The project has a presentation scheduled for Aug. 19 titled “From Data to Decisions: The Evidence Base for 2025 Fall/Winter Immunizations.”

Influenza Recommendations

The AAP’s recommendations largely align with the CDC’s recommendations when it comes to influenza vaccination.

Both advise one or two doses annually starting at 6 months of age, with a transition to one dose annually starting around age 11.

The CDC, though, only recommends influenza vaccines that are free of thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative.

The CDC’s vaccine advisory committee told the agency over the summer it should issue a recommendation against thimerosal-containing flu vaccines. Kennedy accepted the recommendation in July.

Advisers and Kennedy said they wanted to act to prevent mercury accumulation in children. Studies have found links between thimerosal and health problems, such as a paper that found an association between thimerosal exposure and tics.

The AAP was among the groups that opposed the move, stating that there were no health concerns with the amount of mercury present in the vaccines.

The organization said in a policy statement that it recommends “any licensed influenza vaccine product appropriate for age and health status and does not prefer one product over another.” It said that “influenza vaccination should not be delayed to obtain a specific product, including a thimerosal-free product.”