May 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention said COVID-19 vaccines remain an option for

healthy children when parents and doctors agree that it is

needed, stopping short of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy

Jr.'s announcement that the agency would remove the shots from

its immunization schedule.

In a schedule published late on Thursday, the CDC said any

COVID vaccination in healthy children aged 6 months to 17 years

should follow "shared clinical decision-making" between a

child's parents and their healthcare provider.

It had previously recommended updated COVID vaccines for

everyone aged six months and older, following the guidance of

its panel of outside experts.

"Where the parent presents with a desire for their child to

be vaccinated, children 6 months and older may receive COVID-19

vaccination, informed by the clinical judgment of a healthcare

provider and personal preference and circumstances," the CDC

notice said. It provides instructions for administering the

shots to healthy children by age group, from infants to

teenagers.

Kennedy, a long-time vaccine skeptic who oversees the CDC,

the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of

Health, had said on Tuesday the recommendations would be

dropped.

"As of today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and

healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC recommended

immunization schedule," Kennedy said in a video posted on the X

platform.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human

Services said there was no contradiction between Kennedy's

statement and the CDC schedule, which no longer provides a broad

recommendation for healthy children.

Kennedy's announcement prompted criticism from medical

experts who said the health secretary circumvented the

government's decision-making process on vaccines and could

prevent health insurance coverage for COVID shots to vulnerable

Americans.

The Infectious Diseases Society of America said on Tuesday

that removing the recommendation "does the opposite of what

Americans have been asking for when it comes to their health -

it takes away choices and will negatively impact them." It added

infants and children may "develop severe disease and may suffer

from prolonged symptoms due to long COVID, which can negatively

impact their development."

Nearly 1,900 children up to 18 years of age died of COVID in

the U.S., according to CDC estimates updated in 2023.

The makers of COVID vaccines available in the U.S. - Pfizer ( PFE )

, Moderna ( MRNA ) and Novavax ( NVAX ) - did not

immediately respond to requests for comment.

Traditionally, the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization

Practices would meet and vote on changes to the immunization

schedule or recommendations on who should get vaccines before

the agency's director made a final call. The committee had not

voted on the changes announced by Kennedy.

Last week, the FDA said it plans to require new clinical

trials for approval of annual COVID boosters for healthy

Americans under 65, effectively limiting them to older adults

and those at risk of developing severe illness.