The upcoming fall and winter months will bring influenza, RSV and COVID. Many people in the U.S. will not have easy access to updated COVID-19 vaccines, the first time since their development that access is constrained. Kennedy’s leadership at HHS since February coincided with shifts in vaccine policy. Conflicting messaging and ambiguous guidance from the CDC and FDA disrupted the usual synchronized annual vaccine launch. Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina described the rollout as missing or wobbling dominoes, leaving the chain backed up. An August 27 decision limited approval to adults 65+ and some high-risk groups, restricting access and potential insurance coverage for many.
The upcoming fall and winter months are about to bring the usual crop of respiratory illnessesinfluenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and, of course, COVID. But this will be the first time since COVID vaccines were developed that many people in the U.S. will not have easy access to immunization against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease, which has contributed to the deaths of more than 1.2 million Americans to date.
Conflicting messaging and ambiguous guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration shook up the usual launch of annual vaccines. We typically have this very clear set of dominoes for a vaccine rollout: it's smooth; it's synchronized; it's sequenced, says Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist and founder of the newsletter Your Local Epidemiologist. But we have these missing or wobbling dominoes right now, and so the rest of the chain is backed up.
On August 27, one of those dominoes fell when Kennedy announced in a post on X that the FDA had approved the updated COVID vaccines only for adults aged 65 or older and those with underlying health conditions that increase risk of severe infection. The decision leaves healthy children and adults without easy access; they may be limited to receiving vaccines at physicians' offices instead of pharmacies, and health insurance might not cover the full cost for everyone.
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