US ends universal Covid-19 vaccine recommendation, leaves decision to patients

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has implemented recommendations from a newly appointed panel of vaccine advisers. The agency will no longer recommend Covid-19 vaccinations for all Americans, leaving the decision to individual patients.

The agency announced on Oct. 6 that it had implemented recommendations made last month by advisers appointed by US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, reported news agency Associated Press.

Previously, US health officials, following advice from infectious disease experts, had recommended annual Covid-19 booster shots for everyone aged six months and older.

As the pandemic receded, experts debated whether vaccination should focus primarily on those aged 65 years and older, who face higher risks of hospitalisation and death. In May, Kennedy, who has questioned the safety of Covid-19 vaccines in the past, said that the vaccines were no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. He also replaced the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices with a handpicked panel, according to the report.

The new advisory group voted in September that all Americans should make their own decisions regarding Covid-19 vaccination. But the CDC emphasised that vaccine decisions, particularly for seniors, should involve consultation with a doctor, nurse or pharmacist. The change was endorsed by deputy secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill, the CDC’s acting director. O’Neill approved the recommendation last week, with the announcement being made on Oct. 6. “Informed consent is back,” O’Neill said in a statement. “CDC’s 2022 blanket recommendation for perpetual Covid-19 boosters deterred health care providers from talking about the risks and benefits of vaccination for the individual patient or parent. That changes today.”

The panel also suggested that the CDC use clearer language about vaccine risks. This comes despite objections from outside medical groups, which point to the proven safety of billions of doses given worldwide. Doctors regularly talk to patients about vaccines and give them printed information on the risks and benefits of each shot, said Dr. Jesse Hackell, a retired New York physician who has co-authored several American Academy of Paediatrics vaccination policy statements, according to AP.

“To make a statement that informed consent is back implies that it had gone away. In no way has it gone away,” Hackell said. Major medical societies continue to recommend Covid-19 vaccination for younger children, pregnant women and others at higher risk of severe illness. O’Neill also approved a panel recommendation for children under four years to receive their first varicella (chickenpox) vaccine as a standalone shot, rather than as part of the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

- Agencies