Poll Shows Many Adults Have Concerns About Federal COVID-19 Vaccine Policy Changes

CNN (8/1, McPhillips) reported that as COVID-19 transmission ramps up across the US, “recent changes to federal vaccine guidance have left many Americans confused about the latest policies and concerned about access to shots this fall.” In the past few months, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “has said that the COVID-19 shot will no longer be recommended for healthy children and pregnant women, replaced a federal vaccine advisory panel and announced plans to examine the well-established federal childhood vaccine schedule.” A new poll by KFF found that a quarter of US adults say Kennedy has made “major” changes to vaccine policy in the US, but another 40% “don’t know enough to say.” Among those who plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine this fall, “about two-thirds say they are concerned that it might not be available to them. And more than 60% of insured adults who plan to get the shot are worried that their insurance won’t cover it.” KFF Health News (8/2, Andrews) reported that in 2024, the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines were recommended for anyone at least 6 months old. This year, the CDC still broadly recommends vaccines for adults 19 and older, but “they are no longer recommended for healthy pregnant people or for healthy children 6 months through 17 years old.” Recently announced changes to the vaccine approval framework have “chipped away at eligibility.” Moderna announced last month that the FD “had fully approved its Spikevax Covid vaccine – but approval is restricted to adults 65 and older,” plus those at high-risk of developing COVID-19. Furthermore, “two other Covid vaccines expected to be available this fall, Novavax’s Nuvaxovid and Moderna’s mNexspike, are also restricted.”