RFK Jr. vaccination board Covid Shot recommendations

Members of the Advisory Board Committee on Immunization Practices listen to a presentation on COVID-19 during an Acip meeting in the centers for the control and prevention of diseases in Atlanta on September 19, 2025.

Alyssa Zeiger | Reuters

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s hand-picked vaccine panel Robert F. Kennedy Jr. weakened the recommendations of Covid in the USA on Friday and reported that all Americans consult a health service provider before deciding whether the vaccine was given.

The 12-member body, 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 decisions”, which relates 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 for those under the age of 65 for those who are at high risk of a serious illness due to the disease with a high disease disease are most advantageous.

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.

While ACIP did not restrict the use of the Covid vaccine, the softer recommendation of the panel can continue to confuse the Americans whether they make a shot and make it more difficult for them to access you. Acip determines recommendations who receive certain recordings and which vaccines have to cover the insurers free of charge.

The chairman of the committee, Martin Kulldorff, said it was his understanding that the new recommendation means that state-run insurance plans will still cover covid vaccines. However, it is unclear whether all private health plans maintain the coverage of the recordings.

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.

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. During the meeting on Friday, some members have occupied doubts about the security and effectiveness of Covid shots and MRNA technology and questioned the reliability of data on hospital rescue rates based on the virus.

The professor of Massachusett’s Institute of Technology, Professor Retsef Levi, speaks on September 19, 2025 during an advisory committee for immunization practices in the centers for the control and prevention of diseases in Atlanta.

Alyssa Zeiger | Reuters

Kennedy’s other recent steps to change the US COVID vaccine policy also follows, which has created new hurdles for some people in order to gain access to vaccines, including the prescription requirements in certain countries. The CDC solved Covid shot recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women, and the Food and Drug Administration has approved new Covid bumps, whereby there are limits to who can get them.

The ability to maintain vaccines can vary according to 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 “all those who choose protection”. Nevertheless, the new recommendations could 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.

In a statement on Friday, Pfizer said that the company and its partner Biontech “remain steadfast in our commitment to security, quality and effectiveness through constant security monitoring and ongoing research.” “

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 ‘Aetna, Elevance Health, Humana, Emperor Permanent, Molina and Cigna.

Debattung of Covid vaccines

An ACIP member, Retsef Levi, Professor of Operations Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 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 were “appropriate” whether people should now receive recipes for the shot. “You reach a shade” in which some patients may have earlier infections or different comorbidities that should be discussed with a doctor as part of a recipe, said Levi.

A member of the working group, Dr. Henry Bernstein, however, said during another presentation that “common clinical decision-making and the need for a recipe can barriers” for access to covid vaccines.

“Simple, stable recommendations can increase vaccine coverage,” said Bernstein, professor of pediatrics at the Sugar School of Medicine in Hofstra/Northwell. “Covid-19 vaccines are very safe and effective.” 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.