The confusion stems from shifting federal vaccine recommendations, clashing guidance from medical groups, and the uncertainty of how doctors, pharmacies, insurance companies, and everyday people will navigate it all. It didn't have to be this way. HHS is run by a dysfunctional anti-vaxxer.
More like anti-functional. He directly opposes the functions of the HHS.
That sounds about right.
The FDA has authorized the updated COVID-19 vaccines for seniors and younger people with at least one risk factor for severe illness such as asthma, obesity, or diabetes. The agency also revoked emergency authorizations for the shots in children,
which means the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer is no longer approved for kids under the age of 5. The Moderna vaccine is still authorized for children older than 6 months. But who, exactly, are the updated shots recommended for?
While the FDA licenses vaccines for use in certain groups of people, it is the CDC—based on advice from its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)—that sets the schedule for which vaccines people should get and at what ages they should get them. ACIP’s meets Sept. 18 and 19.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, fired all members of ACIP in June and replaced them with people of his own choosing, including several vaccine opponents.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate health committee, said on Aug. 28 that ACIP should indefinitely postpone the September meeting because of serious allegations regarding the “meeting agenda, membership and lack of scientific process being followed” by the committee.
“These decisions directly impact children’s health and the meeting should not occur until significant oversight has been conducted,” said Cassidy, who is a physician.
“If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership.”
But COVID-19 remains a threat to some populations, and people still die and are hospitalized because of the virus. “I absolutely implore everyone who’s in a high-risk group to take advantage of the COVID vaccine this fall,” says Dr. William Schaffner/ professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt U
Nearly 90% of people in the U.S. who got the COVID-19 shot in 2024 received it at a pharmacy, according to CDC data. But access to the shots at pharmacies may soon narrow dramatically.
Pharmacists are unlikely to administer vaccines off-label in the way that medical providers can because of liability concerns, said Groves. “You’ll be hard pressed to find a pharmacist who is willing to do that because of the potential ramifications.”