CDC advisory panel abandons universal COVID-19 shot recommendation

A federal advisory panel is no longer endorsing COVID-19 shots for everyone 6 months and older.

Instead, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted Friday that people should decide whether to get the annual shot after talking to their doctors, a process known as “shared clinical decision-making.”

The panel also voted to stress that the risk-benefit of taking the vaccine is most favorable for persons who are at high risk of severe disease from the coronavirus.

The decision by ACIP, which is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine recommendations committee, to break from previous recommendations was not a surprise.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s been skeptical of vaccines, reshaped the ACIP panel. Some of the new members have expressed doubt about the data behind the COVID-19 shots or have been opposed to mandates around the vaccines.

Former CDC Director Susan Monarez was fired from the agency, only weeks on the job, after clashing with Mr. Kennedy over vaccine policy and ACIP roles.

Her temporary replacement, Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services and CDC acting Director Jim O’Neill, must decide whether to accept the ACIP recommendations.

“I commend the committee for bringing overdue scientific debate on vaccination to the American people,” he said Friday.

The CDC said the COVID-19 shots will still be covered by federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare plans.

However, the ACIP decision to abandon a universal recommendation could prompt private insurers to think twice about covering the shots automatically.

Uptake of the vaccine has been somewhat sluggish, though millions still opt to get it as a seasonal shot.

Federal data show that as of April, 23% of adults and 13% of children had received the version for the 2024-2025 viral season.

Companies like Pfizer and Moderna developed the COVID-19 vaccines, which use groundbreaking mRNA technology, in record time during the first year of the pandemic in 2020.

President Trump frequently points to it as a historic achievement.

Yet he’s grappled with that legacy. On Labor Day, he posted a social media message that ordered drug companies to show more data on the shots.

“I hope OPERATION WARP SPEED was as ’BRILLIANT’ as many say it was,” Mr. Trump wrote. “If not, we all want to know about it, and why???”

Pfizer and Moderna released pioneering mRNA vaccines in late 2020 that showed roughly 95% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19. Yet the virus evolved, and the vaccines seem to wane over time, leading to confusion over how much impact they had against the coronavirus.

Scientists seemed to agree that COVID-19 vaccines won’t prevent you from getting COVID-19, period, though they can lessen the severity of disease and the risk of hospitalization or death.

A study of the 2024-2025 Pfizer shot in the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System found the shot was 68% effective against hospitalization.

For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.