The Trump administration is holding back Covid vaccines for all children in at least 11 states and one US territory, and officials have not indicated when or whether the shots will become available. It’s the latest step by top officials to restrict vaccines in America – and it sets a precedent for holding back other immunizations, experts said. These actions could be a way of “testing the waters” on halting other vaccines in the federal Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, Jernigan said.
More than half of children in the US receive vaccines through VFC, and some states and American Samoa are also known as “universal” vaccine purchasers, which means they buy vaccines through this system for all children in the state or territory, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. But as updated pediatric Covid shots roll out throughout the country amid a Covid wave, HHS is not providing Covid vaccines through the VFC program, with no timeline on when the vaccines will be sent. That means the 52% of children who are eligible for VFC – because they are Alaska Native or American Indian, under- or uninsured, or enrolled in or eligible for Medicaid – as well as all children in universal VFC states don’t have access to Covid vaccines.
The states with universal purchase programs include Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming. Some states, like Idaho, also purchase some of the recommended vaccines in this way. Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), confirmed that Covid vaccines are not available through VFC.
Because Covid can circulate at other times as well, including in the summer, “an arbitrary September date should not be treated as a public-health deadline for Covid-19 vaccine procurement”. The CDC is “finalizing decisions” about Covid vaccine procurement through the Vaccines for Children and Section 317 programs, and “additional information will be available soon,” Hilliard said. She did not respond to the Guardian’s questions about the effects on universal VFC states.
The updated Covid shot provides the best protection against variants that are circulating now, Jernigan said. HHS is “not allowing the best vaccine to be out there to prevent the most disease.” Previous vaccines expired earlier this year. Vaccinating children is especially important early in life; infants have one of the highest hospitalization rates from Covid after the 65-plus age group.
Jernigan is concerned about the vaccines that were recently designated “shared clinical-decision making,” including hepatitis B, meningococcal vaccines, and the flu shot; a judge’s order has stayed such change for now. Robert F Kennedy Jr, HHS secretary and longtime vaccine opponent, has claimed that these changes have not affected vaccination, even as public confidence in vaccines sags after years of misinformation. We have preserved access,” he said at an anti-vaccine conference last week.
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