The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on a recommendation that patients must consult a health care provider to get a Covid-19 vaccine, although they don't necessarily need a prescription. The recommendations shifted away from a broader push most people to get a Covid-19 vaccine and was made by a new panel of vaccine advisers chosen by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kaiser Permanente, the largest private health insurer in California, has announced it will make Covid-19 vaccinations available for free to all of its members over 6 months of age. The provider expects to have the new 2025-2026 vaccine in stock starting on September 15. The decision, the insurer said in a statement to The Oaklandside, "is based on the latest scientific evidence and clinical guidance from our physician experts and many other sources, including leading medical societies."
In the past week, however, the efforts escalated: Kennedy, who rose to fame in part owing to his conspiracy theories about vaccinations, pushed to fire Susan Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is part of H.H.S. This came after Monarez refused to follow the lead of Kennedy's advisers, who have tried to restrict vaccine access.
