It’s August, and oldsters and caregivers are frantically making ready their youngsters for a brand new college yr by shopping for provides, filling out types and assembly academics. This yr, many dad and mom additionally face a query that’s extra sophisticated than standard: Ought to my baby get an up to date COVID-19 vaccine, and can I even have that selection? For some, that call might have already been made by chaotic federal coverage, simply as COVID-19 instances are rising nationwide.
As a pediatrician and researcher who research vaccine supply and well being coverage, I’m listening to uncertainty from each dad and mom and well being care suppliers. If that describes you, you aren’t alone. A ballot revealed Aug. 1, 2025, by the well being coverage group KFF discovered half of oldsters are uncertain whether or not federal well being businesses are recommending COVID-19 vaccines for wholesome youngsters this fall.
The method that usually offers clear, constant suggestions and ensures availability for vaccines earlier than respiratory virus season has been upended, and this yr’s COVID-19 vaccine steerage for kids is a first-rate instance.
How the method sometimes works
For over twenty years, there was a predictable, well-coordinated course of to make sure really helpful seasonal vaccines, such because the flu shot, had been accessible for anybody who wished them by early fall. In recent times, COVID-19 vaccines have been integrated into this identical annual cycle.
Starting in February, the Meals and Drug Administration, together with its impartial committee of consultants, reviewed information and permitted the optimum formulation. After FDA approval, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, an impartial panel of consultants that advises the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, reviewed the proof in public conferences and issued clear suggestions.
The U.S. has lengthy adopted a longtime set of steps lining up vaccines for any given yr.
Producers then scaled up manufacturing; insurers confirmed protection, which is tied to the advisory committee’s suggestions; and doses had been distributed nationwide so vaccines can be accessible in clinics and pharmacies earlier than the leaves began turning. This standard sequence of steps ensured that steerage integrated enter from scientists, epidemiologists, public well being consultants, clinicians, producers, insurers and customers. It additionally fostered belief amongst well being care suppliers and, in flip, supplied dad and mom with readability and confidence when making selections.
What’s totally different this yr
Since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took over as secretary of Well being and Human Providers in February 2025, that standard, tightly choreographed dance has change into a chaotic scramble marked by uncertainty and an absence of transparency. Choices about vaccine steerage have been made by inside channels with out the identical degree of public dialogue, overview of the proof or broad stakeholder enter.
In Might 2025, Kennedy and FDA management bypassed the company’s impartial overview committee and introduced that some COVID-19 vaccines can be permitted just for youngsters with high-risk circumstances. One formulation has but to be FDA-approved for kids in any respect. The secretary first introduced up to date suggestions for kids on X, stating COVID-19 vaccines would not be really helpful for wholesome youngsters. Shortly after, the CDC posted tips that differed from that announcement and mentioned wholesome youngsters “may” obtain them. In the meantime, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was disbanded by Kennedy and changed with a smaller, hand-picked panel that operates with much less transparency and has but to weigh in on COVID-19 vaccines for kids.
Public messaging has added to the confusion. Statements from newly appointed federal well being leaders have questioned the protection of COVID-19 vaccines and the long-standing processes for guaranteeing their security. Funding for mRNA expertise, which helps a number of COVID-19 vaccines and is being explored to be used towards different ailments and even some cancers, has been minimize. And lots of the claims used to justify these actions have been challenged by consultants as inaccurate or deceptive.
What this implies for folks
For folks, the result’s uncertainty about whether or not their youngsters needs to be vaccinated, when and the place the vaccines will probably be accessible, whether or not insurance coverage will cowl them, or whether or not their selection has successfully been made for them by newly appointed well being leaders working outdoors the guardrails of the conventional vetting course of. This uncertainty comes at a time when the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in youngsters is already decrease than that of different routine vaccines.
Public messaging round which vaccines can be found and really helpful is very complicated this yr.
Heather Hazzan, SELF Journal
At present, CDC tips say wholesome youngsters six months and older “may” obtain a COVID-19 vaccine based mostly on shared decision-making with their well being care supplier. The CDC recommends that youngsters who’re reasonably or severely immunocompromised obtain it. These tips differ from FDA approvals and Kennedy’s tips introduced on X, they usually haven’t been reviewed or voted on in an advisory committee on immunization practices assembly.
Mother and father can begin by speaking with their baby’s pediatrician about advantages and potential dangers, confirming eligibility and checking on insurance coverage protection. Pediatricians welcome dad and mom’ questions and work tirelessly to offer solutions grounded in the very best accessible proof so households could make really knowledgeable selections about their baby’s well being.
In some instances, sadly, even when dad and mom need the vaccine and their pediatrician agrees, they might not be capable to get it attributable to any variety of elements, together with native provide shortages, lack of insurance coverage protection, insurance policies that stop administration by pharmacists and different well being suppliers with out clear federal steerage, or an unwillingness of suppliers to present it “off-label,” which means in a approach that differs from the FDA’s official approval. For these dad and mom, their choice has been made for them.
Lowering dangers in different methods
Whether or not or not a toddler receives an up to date COVID-19 vaccine, dad and mom can nonetheless take steps to scale back sickness, together with holding youngsters dwelling when sick, educating them cough-and-sneeze hygiene and inspiring frequent hand-washing. The CDC offers nationwide and state information on seasonal respiratory sicknesses, together with COVID-19, whereas native public well being web sites typically provide community-level info.
Mother and father also needs to keep in mind that the COVID-19 vaccine shouldn’t be the one factor to contemplate earlier than college begins. Routine immunizations akin to these for measles, mumps and rubella, generally known as the MMR vaccine; diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, known as DTaP; and influenza are important for holding youngsters wholesome and in class. These are extensively accessible for now. That is significantly essential, as this yr the US has skilled the very best variety of measles instances in a long time.
Uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 vaccine suggestions, and probably different vaccines, might worsen within the coming weeks and months. It’s potential dad and mom will proceed to see shifting steerage, conflicting statements from federal businesses and decreased entry to vaccines of their communities.
On this chaotic setting, dad and mom can look to trusted sources akin to their pediatrician or organizations such because the American Academy of Pediatrics, which can proceed to offer impartial, evidence-based vaccine steerage.
