Who can get a COVID vaccine-and how? It's complicated.

"The annually updated shots have previously been easily accessible to anyone over 6 months of age. Most people could get them at no cost by simply walking into their neighborhood pharmacy-and that's what most people did. However, the situation is much different this year with an ardent anti-vaccine activist, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as the country's top health official. Since taking the role, Kennedy has worked diligently to dismantle the country's premier vaccination infrastructure, as well as directly hinder access to lifesaving shots."

"In late May, Kennedy unilaterally decided that all healthy children and pregnant people should no longer have access to the shots. He announced the unprecedented change not through official federal channels, but via a video posted on Elon Musk's X platform. Top vaccine and infectious disease officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-which sets federal vaccination recommendations-said they also learned of the change via X."

"Medical experts-particularly the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)-immediately slammed the change, noting that data continues to indicate pregnant women and children under age 2 are particularly vulnerable to severe COVID-19. Both medical groups have since released their own vaccination guidance documents that uphold COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for those patient groups. (AAP here, ACOG here)"

A previously accessible, no-cost seasonal COVID-19 vaccine pathway through neighborhood pharmacies is now disrupted. An influential health official implemented unilateral changes that removed access for healthy children and pregnant people and announced the decision via a social media video rather than official channels. CDC officials learned of the change through that same platform. Major medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists criticized the move and published guidance maintaining vaccine recommendations for vulnerable groups. FDA officials signaled alignment with the unprecedented, unilateral approach to vaccine policy changes.

Read at Ars Technica