Vaccine Confusion?

AMID 'UNPRECEDENTED' CHANGES TO VACCINE GUIDANCE, AN EXPERT HELPS NAVIGATE THE UNCERTAINTY

- EILEEN FINAN

Seasonal Prevention While COVID-19 shot regulations are in question, flu vaccine guidance hasn't changed.

Over the past few months “there’s been turmoil in the vaccine space,” says Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. In June U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all the members of an advisory board that sets policy on vaccines and installed replacements (mostly “well-recognized vaccine skeptics,” Schaffner says). Last month the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued new restrictions on the COVID-19 vaccine, and two weeks ago Florida dropped all vaccine mandates for schoolchildren. “We’re turning the clock back to the bad old days,” Schaffner says. He explains the changes—and how to prepare for the upcoming flu and COVID-19 season.

What are your thoughts about the vaccine policy changes we've seen?