RFK Jr. vaccination board Covid Shot suggestions

Members of the advisory committee for immunization practices (ACIP) listen to a presentation via COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease) during a meeting for immunization practices (ACIP) in the centers for the control and prevention and prevention of diseases (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, September 19, 2025.

Alyssa Zeiger | Reuters

The secretary of the health and human service, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., weakened the recommendations of Covid in the USA on Friday and advised that all Americans receive one on the basis of consultations with a health service provider.

The committee, which was referred to as the advisory committee for immunization practices or ACIP, recommended that people receive 6 months and up vaccines that are based on so -called “common clinical decision -making”, which refers to a decision -making process between a health service provider and a patient or their legal guardian. The group also voted to emphasize that the Covid vaccine is advantageous for those who have a high risk of a serious illness through the disease.

The guidelines break out of previous years in which the committee recommended the 6 months at the age of 6 months to receive an updated covid shot.

The vote is no surprise when Kennedy appointed several vocal critics of mrna Covid recordings as a committee after replacing all the previous members in June. Acip determines recommendations who receive certain recordings and which vaccines have to cover the insurers free of charge.

The professor of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Retsef Levi, speaks during a meeting for immunization practices (ACIP) at the centers for the control and prevention of diseases (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on September 19, 2025.

Alyssa Zeiger | Reuters

Even after Kennedy’s other recent steps to change the US Covide vaccine policy, which has confused many Americans and created new hurdles for some people who access vaccines. The centers for the control and prevention of diseases have reduced Covid shot recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women, and the Food and Drug Administration has approved new covid jabs, whereby there are limits to who can get them.

The CDC, whose youngest director was replaced by the Trump administration at the beginning of this month, still has to take over the commands of the committee.

Experts in public health previously announced that the weakening of the recommendations for covid vaccines could make it difficult for some people – especially healthy adults and children as well as in rural areas – to access the recordings and to cover them through insurance. The ability to maintain vaccines will probably vary depending on the state: During a break from the federal guidelines, four democratic states on Wednesday recommended that broad population will receive an updated covid shot, including “everyone who opts for protection”.

Nevertheless, every new limits of access could further weaken the vaccination rates against the virus and increase the risk of spreading the disease.

A study published in Jama Network Open on Thursday showed that compliance with a universal Covid vaccine recommendation in the United States, which in recent years has had existing instructions that have had potential to prevent thousands of further hospital stays and deaths than to restrict advice on groups with high risk.

Numerous studies have shown that recordings are safe and effective using MRNA technology, including covid vaccines of Pfizer and Moderna, and in extremely rare cases, serious side effects have occurred. In a work in August, Covid vaccines between 2020 and October 2024 saved more than 2 million lives worldwide, mainly in older adults.

A large health insurance group on Wednesday said that its membership plans will cover all vaccines that have already been recommended by ACIP, including updated covid and flu photos, despite all the changes that make the new table of appointments this week. Members’ plans of the group, America’s health insurance plans, offer over 200 million Americans cover and services. This includes more than a dozen Blue Cross Blue Shield Plans, Centene, CVS’s Aetna, Elevance Health, Humana, Emperor Permanent, Molina and Cigna.

Debattung of Covid vaccines

A member, Retsef Levi, directed a working group that checked data and proposed recommendations for Covid vaccines. Levis presentation on the results of the group questioned the security and effectiveness of Covid shots and threw doubts about the MRNA technology.

“We have a number of things on the MRNA platforms that really indicate that it doesn’t work as intended” Levi, who previously pushed to stop the mRNA shots.

He said the majority of the working group believed that individual decisions about whether they receive a covid vaccine are “appropriate” and in particular that people now have to receive recipes for the shot. Levi said: “You reach a nuance limit” where some patients may have earlier infections or different comorbidities that should be discussed with a doctor as part of a recipe.

A member of the working group, Dr. Henry Bernstein, however, said during an additional presentation that “joint clinical decision-making and necessity of a recipe creates barriers” for access to covid vaccines.

“Simple, stable recommendations can increase vaccine cover. COVID-19 vaccines are very safe and effective”, amber, professor of pediatrics at the Sugar School of Medicine in Hofstra/Northwell. He is not a member of Kennedy’s panel that coordinates recommendations.

“Covid-19 vaccination is important for pregnant women, pediatric patients, especially for those who are less than two years old, people aged 65 and over, those of all ages with a weakened immune system, diseases and everyone who has the feeling that they want protection for themselves or their families,” he said.