"The new guidelines officially limit vaccine approval to people older than 65 and those older than 6 months who are immunocompromised or live with another qualifying health condition, such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease. Previously, the vaccines were recommended for most adults to protect against severe illness, hospitalization, and death. The change means fewer people will get vaccinated and more will die of COVID-19, a preventable disease that has killed more than 1.2 million Americans since January 2020, according to the CDC."
""The [FDA's] new recommendations are acting as a bureaucratic deterrent against people getting the vaccine, exacerbating the problem of record lows in rates of COVID vaccination last year," evolutionary epidemiologist and fellow Truthout contributor Rob Wallace told me. The changes come as COVID-19 infections are rising, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)."
"Disabled and aging Americans, communities of color, and low-income communities are the most vulnerable to premature death under the new guidance. "We are feeling very dehumanized and like our lives don't matter," Debra, a Missouri resident who lives with chronic illness and is using only her first name to protect the identities of her children, told Truthout."
On August 27, 2025, updated COVID-19 vaccines were approved with new eligibility restrictions. The restrictions limit approval mainly to people over 65 and to those older than six months who are immunocompromised or have qualifying health conditions. Previously, vaccines were recommended broadly for adults to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death. The change is expected to reduce vaccination rates and increase preventable COVID-19 deaths. Rising infections, increased vulnerability among disabled, aging, communities of color, and low-income populations, and feelings of dehumanization among chronically ill people have followed the new guidance.
Read at Truthout
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]