WASHINGTON — A government advisory committee voted unanimously Friday to recommend that individuals 6 months and older should discuss the risks and benefits of Covid-19 vaccines with their health care providers before deciding whether to get vaccinated.
The decision, if signed off on by federal health leaders, would preserve insurance coverage for the shots, and is similar to the Food and Drug Administration’s approvals of the updated vaccines earlier this year. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emphasized that for people under 65, the benefits of vaccination are most clear for people with risk factors for severe Covid-19.
“This vote provides for immunization coverage through all payment mechanisms including entitlement programs such as Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid, and Medicare, as well as insurance plans through the federal health insurance marketplace,” a Health and Human Services spokesperson said.
The fate of Covid-19 shots had been uncertain, as the voting questions ACIP would consider were not revealed until the very end of the meeting, leading to a disjointed discussion that repeatedly turned into a cross-examination by committee members of CDC staff or vaccine maker representatives. The committee — whose members were handpicked by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. after he fired the original advisers earlier this year — cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, and questioned the reliability of data capturing hospitalization rates due to Covid.
Most concerns were theoretical, for example the suggestion that vaccine materials might have a “nonspecific effect” on the body. Others were more grounded in data, such as a presentation on myocarditis rates, which is a noted safety signal among Covid vaccine recipients.
Over the past few months, the FDA has approved updated Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax for people over 65 or with underlying risk factors. The move surprised vaccine policy expertsas typically the FDA decides whether a vaccine is broadly safe and effective and the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee decides who should receive it.
Public health experts worried that the FDA’s restrictions would impede vaccine access, as doctors might be less willing to offer the shots off-label. Some people have struggled to get Covid vaccines since. The American Academy of Pediatrics countered the FDA by recommending Covid shots for all children between 6 months and 23 months, as well as children over 2 at risk for severe disease.
But most private health insurers have already announced they would continue to cover updated Covid-19 vaccines this year regardless of regulatory limitations, assuaging some fears about access. ACIP’s vote to recommend the vaccine, despite the caveat of shared clinical decision-making, mandates that public health insurers cover Covid shots as well.
