Key facts
- HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made changes to vaccination policy, cutting childhood immunization recommendations.
- A judge halted these changes due to procedural errors.
- The lack of ACIP recommendations delays insurance coverage for new vaccines like Moderna's mRNA flu shot.
- Experts anticipate that without an ACIP recommendation by year-end, coverage for the new flu shot may not be required until January 2029.
- Some states prohibit pharmacists from administering vaccines without an ACIP recommendation.
US vaccine recommendations are in limbo, access to vaccines is suffering, and some of the uncertainty may continue for years following major blows to vaccination by the Trump administration, experts say. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has made sweeping changes to vaccination policy, cutting childhood immunization recommendations by a third and replacing experts on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) with his own handpicked allies. A judge’s order halted these changes because they were not done correctly, but Kennedy has not nominated any new ACIP members. This means there are no new vaccination recommendations coming from the committee, even as new vaccines are approved. Insurers usually have at least a year after FDA approval to add coverage of a new vaccine to their plans, so a co-pay like Kroening’s isn’t unusual in the first year or so. But the difference now is it’s not clear when the vaccine will be fully covered. The US government has appealed the part of the judge’s order that disbanded the vaccines committee, but there’s nothing to stop Kennedy from undergoing the correct process for appointing new members, experts say. He hasn’t.