A former Harvard Medical School professor who claims he was fired for refusing to receive the Covid-19 vaccine was appointed on Wednesday to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisory panel for immunization policy.

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

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.

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.

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 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who oversaw the agency's recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines has resigned, following a week of mixed messaging from federal health officials over who would be eligible for the shots.

A new study from UCLA Health suggests COVID vaccines may protect patients from severe kidney damage. The study found hospitalized COVID patients were less likely to have severe kidney damage if they were vaccinated.

Recent vaccination announcements have led to some confusion. Four physicians weigh in on who should get vaccinated and when