Statement attributable to:
Jason M. Goldman, MD, MACP
President, American College of Physicians
Washington, D.C., May 28, 2025 — The American College of Physicians (ACP) is concerned that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announcement that COVID-19 vaccines will no longer be recommended for healthy pregnant individuals and children will interfere with the practice of evidence-based medicine. The announcement bypasses our country’s standard, transparent vaccine review process that employs intense scientific review and open data analysis by multiple scientists and experts. This process allows for rigorous scientific debate to make the best possible recommendations for the health and safety of the American public, guided by scientific evidence about the risks and benefits of vaccines. ACP strongly supports the use of science, based on the best-available evidence in issuing any clinical or public health guidance. The HHS announcement ignores evidence showing that these populations and/or those with whom they regularly interact can be at heightened risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and the vaccine is their best protection against that outcome. Clinical and public health guidance must be developed through a highly transparent process without interference. Issuing policies that are not based on evidence and the expert recommendations of scientists can have a detrimental effect on the public’s trust. The HHS announcement will likely further erode public confidence in the safety of these vaccines, despite the evidence demonstrating their benefits. The new recommendations also have the potential to threaten insurance coverage for COVID vaccines and boosters, increasing the cost and placing them out-of-reach of individuals who do still want to be vaccinated.
The integrity of medical practice depends on rigorous adherence to evidence-based decision-making. We urge the administration to reconsider this recommendation and allow the long-standing process of transparent and open data review by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to occur for the sake of the health of the United States.
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About the American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 172 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 161,000 internal medicine physicians, related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn.