‘This is a tragedy:’ UW doctor pushes back against RFK Jr.’s COVID vaccine recommendations
Jun 6, 2025, 5:05 AM
A pregnant woman receives a dose of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination program. (Photo: Ulet Ifansasti, Getty Images)
(Photo: Ulet Ifansasti, Getty Images)
Some OB-GYNs are pushing back against the federal government’s decision not to recommend the COVID shot for pregnant women.
“This is a tragedy,” said Linda Eckert, MD, in an interview from UW Medicine. “It doesn’t follow the science or the data or the clinical experience we’ve had since COVID has been part of our lives.”
Eckert said pregnant women develop more serious symptoms from COVID than women who are not pregnant.
“They develop more hospitalizations; they have to be in the ICU more often,” she said. “They need the use of a ventilator more often. They even die more often.”
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Eckert insists the vaccine not only reduces the risk of severe illness in pregnant mothers, it protects their newborns.
“If a pregnant woman develops an immunity to COVID, especially with a vaccine, and she has a high level of antibodies, she passes those on to the infant,” she explained.
She said data show that infants are much less likely to be hospitalized with COVID, within the first six months of life, if their mothers had been vaccinated while pregnant.
And she points out that there’s no approved COVID vaccine for babies, six months and younger, yet they face serious complications if infected. In fact, she said they have the same hospitalization rate as adults over the age of 65, yet COVID vaccines are still being recommended for that age group.
She worries the new government recommendations will discourage insurance companies from covering the vaccine.
“If insurance chooses not to cover this vaccine and people only have the option of paying out of pocket, we know that a lot of people aren’t going to be able to afford it,” she said.
Last month, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Junior said he would remove the CDC’s recommendation that children and healthy pregnant women get the COVID vaccine.
He has since said that children can get COVID shots if their parents first consult their health care provider.
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