CDC Recommends COVID-19 Vaccine to All Adults, Many Children

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 25, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Federal health officials are recommending that all adults, regardless of health, and many children receive a COVID-19 vaccine in the coming months, after a judge blocked narrower recommendations.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sept. 23 said on its website that a dose of recently approved, updated COVID-19 vaccines is advised for all adults, unless they have special situations such as a history of heart inflammation within three weeks of receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine.

All children 6 months to 17 years who have never received a COVID-19 vaccine should receive at least one dose of the shots, unless they have a special situation, as well as any children deemed moderately or severely immunocompromised, the CDC said. Just 9.7 percent received one of the vaccines in late 2025 or early 2026, according to previously released CDC estimates.

The CDC said that for previously vaccinated children who do not have weak immune systems, parents should discuss with health care professionals the benefits and risks of the COVID-19 vaccines before deciding whether or not to vaccinate.

The CDC and Food and Drug Administration are part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The FDA in August approved updated COVID-19 vaccines, including several shots that utilize messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology, despite there being no human data available to indicate the vaccines work.

The FDA approval was for all people aged at least 65, in addition to people as young as 6 months of age who have one or more conditions—such as asthma and obesity—that officials say place them at higher risk of severe COVID-19.

That means the CDC recommendation is partially off-label, or outside of FDA approval.

HHS declined to comment. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has previously referred to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as “the deadliest vaccine ever made,” citing deaths reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, and asked the FDA in 2021 to withdraw clearance for that and Moderna’s vaccine, although more recently he said that early iterations of the vaccines saved lives.

Make America Healthy Again activists who have supported Kennedy recently urged him to have mRNA vaccines such as the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines withdrawn from the market over safety concerns.

“This move from the CDC demonstrates total disregard for safety, the will of the people and administrative transparency,” Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, founder of Americans for Health Freedom and one of the activists, told The Epoch Times in a message after the CDC’s new recommendation was released.

Retsef Levi, who advised the CDC on vaccines until earlier in the year, noted on X that there have been deaths following COVID-19 vaccination, and that young males face a higher risk of heart inflammation after receiving a shot. The CDC said on its website that the risk of myocarditis might be reduced if doses are spread out.

The CDC had in 2025 changed broad COVID-19 vaccine recommendations to advising every person considering a vaccine to consult with a doctor and take into account the risks and benefits of vaccination, and their health. That and other vaccine updates made under Kennedy were blocked in March by a federal judge who concluded that Kennedy did not follow proper procedure in selecting new CDC vaccine advisers, who recommended many of the changes. The judge ruled in favor of some outside medical groups, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics.

An appeal is ongoing.

The academy and several other organizations in September recommended COVID-19 vaccination for all children aged 6 to 23 months, and virtually all adults. They said if parents wanted to have other children vaccinated against COVID-19, then they could.

A spokesperson for the academy, when asked for a response to the new CDC recommendations, declined to comment on Friday.