Covid-19 vaccines are about to become widely available again across the United States, following several weeks of confusion around who would be able to get them this fall. Uncertainty over federal vaccine policy had caused a temporary patchwork of access across the country, with shots being offered in some places and not others.
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance around the use of Covid vaccines, dropping a broad recommendation for vaccination and instead leaving the choice up to individuals. While it marks a change in official CDC policy, the guidance allows shots to be rolled out to pharmacies, and for states to once again offer them to people of all ages.
Prior to this fall, the CDC universally recommended the Covid vaccine for anyone 6 months or older. The agency’s new guidance, drafted by a panel of experts hand-picked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., says that individuals should consult with a health care provider before getting the shot, what the agency calls “individual-based decision-making.” The CDC’s definition of providers includes physicians, nurses, and pharmacists.
“Informed consent is back,” said Jim O’Neill, acting CDC director and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) deputy secretary, in an October 6 statement. “CDC’s 2022 blanket recommendation for perpetual Covid-19 boosters deterred healthcare providers from talking about the risks and benefits of vaccination for the individual patient or parent. That changes today.”
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, first moved to restrict Covid vaccines in May, when he announced that the CDC would no longer recommend them to healthy children and pregnant women.
Confusion mounted in August, when the Food and Drug Administration approved updated Covid vaccines but only for adults ages 65 and older and younger people with medical conditions that put them at higher risk of severe disease. Previously, Covid shots were indicated for anyone 6 months and older. Because of differing state laws that determine the scope of practice for pharmacists, the change triggered pharmacies in some states to require a prescription, while in others pharmacies stopped offering the shots entirely. Several states, however, took swift action to restore access.
