The NB.1.8.1 COVID-19 variant was linked to a large surge of hospitalizations in parts of Asia earlier this year.

Public health and infectious disease experts said they were surprised and confused about the move, and questioned why the HHS did not offer any reasoning for its decision.

A medical officer at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who was working on the committee that was weighing changes to the agency’s Covid-19 vaccine recommendations resigned on Friday, the same day officials the US Department of Health and Human Services announced they had removed the CDC recommendation for pregnant women and healthy children to get Covid-19 vaccines.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. purged all previous members of the vaccine panel and said appointing new ones would restore public trust in vaccines.

There was a notable absence last week when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a 58-second video that the government would no longer endorse the COVID-19 vaccine for healthy children or pregnant women.

An official at the CDC who oversaw the agency's recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines has resigned, following a week of mixed messaging from federal health officials.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s dismissal of an independent panel of experts citing the goal of restoring trust in vaccines could undermine confidence in those available now, putting Americans at risk of preventable infectious diseases,

The Trump administration has declared an end to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant people, and health experts have a warning: This is a threat to Black communities. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.