The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved updated Covid-19 vaccines but has placed new restrictions on who can get them.

The agency has authorized Covid vaccines for people 65 and older, who are known to be more at risk from serious illnesses from Covid infections.

Younger individuals will only qualify for the Covid vaccine if they have a medical condition that increases their vulnerability. This shift marks the upcoming fall and winter as the first seasons where the US government has not recommended broad Covid vaccinations.

Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, announced on Twitter/X that Covid vaccine “mandates” under Joe Biden are now lifted, and the vaccines will be accessible to those at high risk.

For children, Kennedy stated that the Moderna vaccine is approved for those older than six months, the Pfizer vaccine for those over five years, and the Novavax shot for those older than 12.

“These vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors,” Kennedy mentioned in his social media post. “The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense. This framework delivers all three.”

Kennedy, who previously founded an anti-vaccine group, has long questioned the demonstrable benefits of vaccines and spread baseless concerns regarding their safety.

As health secretary, Kennedy has reduced funding for flu and Covid vaccines by $500m, and his agency has begun to argue that the risks of Covid shots outweigh the benefits. Vinay Prasad, the administration’s chief vaccine regulator, has overridden career scientists to limit Covid vaccine approvals, including for Moderna’s vaccine, several times in recent months.

Earlier this month, the Guardian revealed that the FDA was considering not renewing Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for young children, which would have removed the only remaining such vaccine for children under five.

In recent years, rates of vaccine use have dropped in the US, to about 23% of all adults and 13% of people under the age of 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

While proponents of vaccine restrictions argue that only those most at risk should get shots, critics point out that children can still get seriously sick from Covid.

“Our healthcare system is now solidly anti-children and anti-science,” Fatima Khan, co-founder of the Protect Their Future group, which advocates for vaccine access for children, told CNN.

“The data are clear: young children – especially infants – remain highly vulnerable to severe illness and hospitalization from Covid-19. By restricting access to safe, evidence-based vaccines, federal leaders are choosing ideology over science.”