It is August, and fogeys and caregivers are frantically making ready their children for a brand new college yr by shopping for provides, filling out varieties and assembly lecturers. This yr, many mother and father additionally face a query that is extra sophisticated than standard: Ought to my youngster get an up to date COVID-19 vaccine, and can I even have that alternative? For some, that call could have already been made by chaotic federal coverage, simply as COVID-19 instances are rising nationwide.
As a pediatrician and researcher who research vaccine supply and well being coverage, I’m listening to uncertainty from each mother and father and well being care suppliers. If that describes you, you aren’t alone. A ballot revealed Aug. 1, 2025, by the well being coverage group KFF discovered half of fogeys are not sure whether or not federal well being businesses are recommending COVID-19 vaccines for wholesome kids this fall.
The method that usually offers clear, constant suggestions and ensures availability for vaccines earlier than respiratory virus season has been upended, and this yr’s COVID-19 vaccine steerage for youngsters is a main instance.
How the method usually works
For over 20 years, there was a predictable, well-coordinated course of to make sure advisable seasonal vaccines, such because the flu shot, had been out there for anybody who wished them by early fall. Lately, COVID-19 vaccines have been integrated into this similar annual cycle.
Starting in February, the Meals and Drug Administration, together with its impartial committee of consultants, reviewed knowledge and authorised the optimum formulation. After FDA approval, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, an impartial panel of consultants that advises the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, reviewed the proof in public conferences and issued clear suggestions.
The U.S. has lengthy adopted a longtime set of steps lining up vaccines for any given yr.
Producers then scaled up manufacturing; insurers confirmed protection, which is tied to the advisory committee’s suggestions; and doses had been distributed nationwide so vaccines can be out there in clinics and pharmacies earlier than the leaves began turning. This standard collection of steps ensured that steerage integrated enter from scientists, epidemiologists, public well being consultants, clinicians, producers, insurers and shoppers. It additionally fostered belief amongst well being care suppliers and, in flip, offered mother and father with readability and confidence when making selections.
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What’s completely different this yr
Since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took over as secretary of Well being and Human Companies in February 2025, that standard, tightly choreographed dance has turn into a chaotic scramble marked by uncertainty and a scarcity of transparency. Choices about vaccine steerage have been made by way of inside channels with out the identical degree of public dialogue, evaluate of the proof or broad stakeholder enter.
In Could 2025, Kennedy and FDA management bypassed the company’s impartial evaluate committee and introduced that some COVID-19 vaccines can be authorised just for kids with high-risk situations. One formulation has but to be FDA-approved for youngsters in any respect. The secretary first introduced up to date suggestions for youngsters on X, stating COVID-19 vaccines would now not be advisable for wholesome kids. Shortly after, the CDC posted pointers that differed from that announcement and mentioned wholesome kids “could” obtain them. In the meantime, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was disbanded by Kennedy and changed with a smaller, hand-picked panel that operates with much less transparency and has but to weigh in on COVID-19 vaccines for youngsters.
Public messaging has added to the confusion. Statements from newly appointed federal well being leaders have questioned the security of COVID-19 vaccines and the long-standing processes for guaranteeing their security. Funding for mRNA know-how, which helps a number of COVID-19 vaccines and is being explored to be used in opposition to different illnesses and even some cancers, has been reduce. And lots of the claims used to justify these actions have been challenged by consultants as inaccurate or deceptive.
What this implies for fogeys
For fogeys, the result’s uncertainty about whether or not their kids ought to be vaccinated, when and the place the vaccines might be out there, whether or not insurance coverage will cowl them, or whether or not their alternative has successfully been made for them by newly appointed well being leaders working exterior the guardrails of the traditional vetting course of. This uncertainty comes at a time when the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in kids is already decrease than that of different routine vaccines.
Presently, CDC pointers say wholesome kids six months and older “could” obtain a COVID-19 vaccine based mostly on shared decision-making with their well being care supplier. The CDC recommends that kids who’re reasonably or severely immunocompromised obtain it. These pointers differ from FDA approvals and Kennedy’s pointers introduced on X, they usually haven’t been reviewed or voted on in an advisory committee on immunization practices assembly.
Dad and mom can begin by speaking with their kid’s pediatrician about advantages and potential dangers, confirming eligibility and checking on insurance coverage protection. Pediatricians welcome mother and father’ questions and work tirelessly to supply solutions grounded in one of the best out there proof so households could make actually knowledgeable selections about their kid’s well being.
In some instances, sadly, even when mother and father need the vaccine and their pediatrician agrees, they might not have the ability to get it as a consequence of any variety of components, together with native provide shortages, lack of insurance coverage protection, insurance policies that forestall administration by pharmacists and different well being suppliers with out clear federal steerage, or an unwillingness of suppliers to present it “off-label,” which means in a method that differs from the FDA’s official approval. For these mother and father, their resolution has been made for them.
Decreasing dangers in different methods
Whether or not or not a toddler receives an up to date COVID-19 vaccine, mother and father can nonetheless take steps to scale back sickness, together with holding kids residence when sick, educating them cough-and-sneeze hygiene and inspiring frequent hand-washing. The CDC offers nationwide and state knowledge on seasonal respiratory diseases, together with COVID-19, whereas native public well being web sites usually supply community-level data.
Dad and mom also needs to do not forget that the COVID-19 vaccine shouldn’t be the one factor to contemplate earlier than college begins. Routine immunizations similar to these for measles, mumps and rubella, often called the MMR vaccine; diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, referred to as DTaP; and influenza are important for holding children wholesome and at school. These are broadly out there for now. That is significantly necessary, as this yr the USA has skilled the highest variety of measles instances in a long time.
Uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 vaccine suggestions, and doubtlessly different vaccines, could worsen within the coming weeks and months. It’s doable mother and father will proceed to see shifting steerage, conflicting statements from federal businesses and decreased entry to vaccines of their communities.
On this chaotic atmosphere, mother and father can look to trusted sources similar to their pediatrician or organizations such because the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is able to proceed to present impartial, evidence-based vaccine steerage.
This edited article is republished from The Dialog below a Artistic Commons license. Learn the unique article.
