CDC advisers vote that patients must consult a health care provider for Covid-19 vaccination, but no prescription required
A meeting of the CDC's vaccine advisers got off to a chaotic start on Friday with a delayed vote on one vaccine and a redo of a vote from Thursday.
By Brenda Goodman, Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN
(CNN) — Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted unanimously on Friday to shift away from a broad recommendation for Covid-19 vaccines to say that people who want one must consult with a health care provider, a process known as shared clinical decision-making.
However, the committee was split on whether to recommend that a prescription for a Covid-19 vaccine should be required. That vote was 6-6; Dr. Martin Kulldorff, the chair of the committee, voted no, which broke the tie.
The committee now says people 65 and older should make the decision about whether to get a Covid-19 vaccine with a doctor or another health care provider. It should be the same for people ages 6 months to 64 years, the vaccine advisers voted, but with “an emphasis that the risk-benefit of vaccination is most favorable for individuals who are at an increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease and lowest for individuals who are not at an increased risk, according to the CDC list of COVID-19 risk factors.”
The recommendations are not final; they go to Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill for approval. O’Neill, a deputy of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s, has led the agency since Dr. Susan Monarez was ousted abruptly last month.
The US Food and Drug Administration has already made significant changes to this season’s shots by limiting approval to adults 65 and older as well as younger people who are at higher risk of severe Covid-19.
The vote by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices carries additional implications for vaccine access since some states adhere closely to the committee’s recommendations. The result may be a patchwork of vaccine access from state to state, depending in part on on who is able to administer vaccines.
In a statement, a US Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said the vote on shared clinical decision-making “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.”
AHIP, formerly America’s Health Insurance Plans, said its members — which provide coverage to more than 200 million Americans — has said it will continue to cover all immunizations that ACIP had recommended as of September 1 at no cost to patients through the end of 2026. This includes the updated Covid-19 and influenza vaccines.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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