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CDC Study Findings
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study Thursday that shows Covid vaccines continue to protect healthy children from severe illness. The research covered the period from late August 2024 to early September 2025 and examined roughly 98,000 emergency room and urgent care visits.
Among children aged 9 months to 4 years, the vaccines lowered the risk of Covid‑related ER and urgent care visits by 76%. For those aged 5 to 17, the reduction was 56%. The analysis focused on the added protection from Covid vaccines administered during the 2024‑2025 season, since participants already had varying levels of immunity from prior vaccines and infections.
Implications for Vaccine Policy
The findings directly counter claims made by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the vaccines’ effectiveness and address doubts raised by other federal health officials regarding the benefit of continuing Covid shots for children.
Kennedy, who oversees all federal health agencies, stated at a Senate Finance Committee hearing in September that the vaccine industry could not produce a study demonstrating Covid shots were effective in healthy kids. He also added that “there’s no clinical data” to support Covid vaccine recommendations for healthy people.
In May, Kennedy announced that the CDC would stop recommending Covid vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women, bypassing the usual regulatory process. In September, a group of vaccine advisors appointed by Kennedy voted not to universally recommend Covid shots, instead suggesting that individuals discuss the benefits with their doctors.
Reactions from Health Officials
Dr. Debra Houry, who resigned as the CDC’s former chief medical officer in August, expressed reassurance over the study’s release. She texted: “It is good to see that data and science are still coming out of the MMWR. I hope this publication will continue to be a voice for the agency scientists despite the recent cuts to the CDC Office of Science.”
The Office of Science, which produces the MMWR, was affected by a sweeping round of layoffs during the government shutdown in October. Those layoffs were later rescinded and temporarily blocked by a federal judge. The CDC has undergone three rounds of layoffs since President Donald Trump took office in January.
FDA Comments
Two Food and Drug Administration officials—commissioner Marty Makary and vaccine chief Vinay Prasad—described the benefits of Covid boosters as “uncertain” in a New England Journal of Medicine editorial published in May. In a memo last month to agency staff, Prasad claimed that Covid shots have killed at least 10 children and that “we do not have reliable data” on the vaccines’ benefits in healthy kids. Twelve former FDA commissioners responded by writing in the same journal that “substantial evidence shows that vaccination can reduce the risk of severe disease and hospitalization in many children and adolescents.”
Key Takeaways
- Covid vaccines reduced emergency room and urgent care visits for children by up to 76% in the youngest group and 56% in older children.
- The study counters federal claims questioning vaccine effectiveness in healthy kids.
- Reactions from CDC and FDA officials highlight ongoing debate over vaccine policy and data transparency.
The CDC study underscores that, despite political controversy, Covid vaccines still offer significant protection against severe illness in children.
