Key facts
- States are facing delays in obtaining COVID-19 vaccines for children through a federal immunization program.
- The CDC has not started accepting orders for COVID-19 shots for children.
- Low-income families who normally receive free COVID-19 vaccines for their children have been told the shots are unavailable.
- The delay is due to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention needing to formally recommend this year's COVID vaccine for the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program.
- The VFC program provides vaccines to children who are Medicaid-eligible and under- or uninsured.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services, replaced the CDC's vaccine advisory panel members in June.
U.S. states are experiencing delays in acquiring updated COVID-19 vaccines for children through the federal Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, according to reports. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not yet begun accepting orders for these shots, leaving low-income and uninsured children without access while those with private insurance can obtain them.
This delay stems from a disruption in the recommendation process for the annual COVID-19 vaccine. In June, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced all 17 members of the CDC's independent vaccine advisory panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The new panel's vote on recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccines did not occur until mid-September, significantly later than the typical June timeline.
As a result, states were only notified this week that they could place orders for the vaccines through the VFC program. Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, a former head at the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, noted on social media that this situation meant children with private insurance had access to the updated vaccines for weeks while un- or underinsured children did not.
For families like Valerie Brickey's in North Carolina, the inability to access free vaccines through the VFC program means facing high out-of-pocket costs at pharmacies, with one local pharmacy quoting $368 for a shot that Ryleigh, Brickey's 16-year-old granddaughter, is eligible to receive for free. Brickey highlighted the financial strain, stating, "If I could afford $368, she wouldn’t be on Medicaid."