The federal government is no longer recommending Covid vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women.

Our Christine spoke to Doctor Stephen Stark, the commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, to find out how this could impact the health of Kentuckians.

Commissioner Doctor Stephen Stack, what was your initial reaction when you heard of the new recommendations from the federal government that exclude healthy children and healthy pregnant women from the recommended recommendations to get the Covid booster and Covid shot doctor Marty?

Well, my biggest concern with the recommendations I made, 27 that were made by the HHS secretary, are that the recommendations departed from all of the standard and transparent processes that have long been in place to ensure the American public is receiving scientifically based, and sound guidance.

So none of the advisory committees that normally offer input into this decision appear to have been consulted for this decision.

And so the public has now been told that pregnant women and young, healthy children should not have access to or are not recommended to take the Covid vaccine.

Now, have this gone through the normal processes, we could have felt more comfortable with the quality of the guidance.

Now it leaves things very uncertain about.

Is the guidance actually the best guidance for our patients?

And that recommendation?

What is the recommendation do?

How does it impact when somebody goes to their doctor and wants the shot?

So some of the biggest concerns are that insurance companies will often base coverage decisions, whether they will pay for the vaccine or not, based on what the federal government recommends.

So normally, there's a process with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that reviews all the science, reviews the patient populations and makes very specific guidance, recommendations, what should and shouldn't be covered?

Insurance companies, and certainly Medicare and Medicaid, are required, often by law, to follow those recommendations.

Now that the leadership of HHS has made a different recommendation, it really throws into uncertainty.

What will insurance companies do when the normal processes have not been followed?

And there is still some confusion, because on the CDC's website, it still has pregnant women as a high risk category, recommending as they should especially get the shot.

So when is this supposed to take effect?

And and how does that confusion get resolved?

Well, and that's a real concern.

It's a question that people would have to ask the federal leadership because I share those very concerns.

It doesn't appear that the science experts at CDC were consulted informing this decision.

And so therefore, we don't know how these decisions were arrived at.

And and it, again, raises very serious concerns about are these the best guidance, recommendations we can make?

Pregnant women are generally considered to be at higher risk for influenza, Covid and other infectious diseases because their immune system is compromised due to the extra strange pregnancy places on them.

So I think many obstetricians would say this is not a good recommendation and that it could potentially deprive pregnant women the opportunity to keep themselves and their unborn child safe.

Do you expect to hear any more communication or guidance on this?

I really have no idea what the federal government will do.

I know that this is going to leave those of us who are in state, public health and local public health in a position where we may have to make our own recommendations to the people we serve.

That we feel are in the best interest for their health and well-being.

Okay.

Well, thank you so much for your time, Commissioner doctor Stephen Stack, and for kind of walking us through what we know right now.

Thank you very much.

And thank you, Christy Dutton.

The CDC previously recommended Covid vaccines for everyone aged six months and older.

It is unclear when the new recommendations will take effect.