RFK Jr. changes COVID-19 vaccine recommendations
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For children, yes, the CDC’s “shared decision-making” guidance preserves the status quo in which Medicaid and U.S. health-insurance companies are legally required to pay for the COVID vaccines. That also means the vaccines will remain available to low-income kids through the federal Vaccines for Children program.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently announced more key changes to the CDC recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination. Two health experts answer questions about what the changes mean.
The FDA's approval was based on a study of 11,400 people age 12 and older that compared the new low-dose vaccine with Moderna's existing vaccine. It found the new vaccine was safe and was at least as effective - and more by some measures - than the original shot, the company said.
But in 2024, there was a prolonged summer surge in California that lasted from June through the end of September. After that spike, the expected winter surge never came this year, and for the first time in five years, flu deaths surpassed COVID deaths.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the federal government will no longer be advising routine COVID vaccines for healthy pregnant people and children. That decisio