“Everybody can get” the covid-19 vaccine.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Sept. 4 in a Senate Finance Committee hearing
When health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 4, several senators criticized him for restricting the covid-19 shots after promising in November he wouldn’t “take away anybody’s vaccines.”
“Did you hold up a big sign saying that you were lying when you said that?” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked Kennedy.
On Aug. 27, the FDA updated its covid vaccine guidance, limiting the groups of people approved to get the updated shot to anyone 65 or older and any person at least 6 months old who has at least one underlying health condition that increases their risk of a severe covid infection.
Kennedy pushed back. “Anybody can get the booster,” he said, later adding that “it’s not recommended for healthy people.”
Warren said, “If you don’t recommend, then the consequence of that in many states is that you can’t walk into a pharmacy and get one. It means insurance companies don’t have to cover the $200 or so cost.”
Warren and Kennedy continued to speak over each other, debating the vaccines’ availability.
“It depends on the states,” Kennedy said. “But they can still get it. Everybody can get it. Everybody can get it, senator.”
Asked for evidence, the Health and Human Services Department pointed to an Aug. 27 post on the social platform X from Kennedy that said, “These vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors.”
Kennedy’s blanket statement to senators is misleading and premature.
Under current guidance, healthy people under 65 might need a doctor’s prescription to get the shot. If they successfully get a prescription, they may need to pay out-of-pocket.
Further, whether the vaccine is available at pharmacies and covered by insurance is largely dependent on a vaccine panel that has so far issued no recommendations.
What was the status quo for years — that most Americans, regardless of age, could easily make an appointment at their local pharmacy for the vaccine at little to no out-of-pocket cost — is no longer guaranteed in the 2025-26 season.
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Limited Approval, No Guidance
The FDA’s approval is not the only step in the process of making vaccines available to the public.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel of independent experts that guides vaccine policy, has not voted on or issued current guidance. Typically, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends vaccines based on the panel’s guidance.
And that guidance affects insurance coverage and vaccine access. Federal law requires that most health insurance plans fully cover vaccines recommended by the CDC. Some states a …