CDC advisory group considers narrowing COVID vaccine recommendations

Next year s COVID vaccine recommendations from the U S Centers for Disorder Control and Prevention appear likely to be less expansive than in previous years Notes from a new meeting of the CDC s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices COVID- Work Group show soundness bureaucrats are considering narrowing the recommended age range for universal vaccination from everyone over months to those and older and people with robustness complications for the next respiratory virus season Related Articles Misinformation about fentanyl exposure threatens to undermine overdose response Is your teen sleep-deprived These expert bedtime tips could help Sleep training is no longer just for babies Specific schools are teaching teens how to sleep States push Medicaid work rules but scarce programs help enrollees find jobs Republicans in Congress are eyeing cuts to Medicaid But what does Medicaid truly do A majority of the working group s members indicated they will vote to endorse such a risk-based recommendation rather than the current universal recommendation A few doctors are praising the practicable move while others have reservations about the shift The change would be long overdue declared Monica Gandhi a UC San Francisco infectious sickness expert I think it is the right approach to give people boosters when they re at threat she announced A new more narrow COVID vaccine recommendation would also put the United States more in line with the rest of the world The majority of the world in fact the entire planet including the World Strength Organization only recommends COVID vaccination for certain exposure groups she disclosed Gandhi who was often a critic of several of the more restrictive pandemic precautions in Northern California s Bay Area including prolonged school closures has researched and published papers on the efficacy of vaccinations and boosters She hopes the CDC adjusting its recommendations might restore certain of the masses s trust in society vitality personnel But there is another common respiratory virus for which the CDC has long recommended universal annual inoculation The agency recommends a flu shot every year for every person months and older and while flu vaccination coverage is far from universal in latest years uptake of the flu vaccine has been suppressed by the politicization of vaccinations that stemmed from the conversation around COVID vaccines Since the first COVID vaccine was issued the agency has recommended that everyone six months and older get at least one dose of the annually reformulated COVID vaccine each year The process of yearly shots was more similar to the system for the flu vaccine than other respiratory viruses for which universal but less frequent vaccination is recommended like measles The measles vaccine is administered in two doses during childhood with no additional boosters recommended In modern years additional doses of the COVID vaccine have been recommended for the elderly and those at high exposure of serious illness Not all general healthcare experts agree that a change to the recommendations is the right idea There are reasonable people coming down on both sides of it explained Dr John Swartzberg clinical professor emeritus at the UC Berkeley School of Residents Robustness I think the best thing for a society is to have the maximum protection we can have Swartzberg reported Therefore I tilt toward continuing the way we re doing it According to details presented at the working group meeting this week as of mid-March just of children between months old and years old released having received this year s COVID vaccine slightly lower than the percentage who had been vaccinated the year before Those rates are lower than the rate of flu vaccination for children despite similar recommendations If no one s doing what you re recommending you ve obviously lost their trust Gandhi declared It s really pivotal to regain trust in constituents soundness While next year s recommendations may not call for a vaccine for those under without a high pitfall a vast majority of the working group members indicated they want to allow anyone to get an annual shot if they choose to Specific worry that given the patchwork nature of the country s vitality care and healthcare insurance system the change could make it harder for certain to get vaccinated but the implications are not clear If it is recommended for people the insurance pays for it but if it is suggested then the insurance may or may not pay for it declared Swartzberg That s why there have been all these battles over the language that the CDC uses he disclosed It has big implications The working group is expected to vote on its final recommendation in June