If you’re planning on getting a Covid-19 booster this fall, you could be faced with a hefty bill — even if you have insurance.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in May that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer recommends a Covid-19 vaccine for healthy children and pregnant people.
Kennedy shared the announcement on the social media platform, X, in a video alongside Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Marty Makary, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
“Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another Covid shot, despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children,” Kennedy said in the video. He did not share scientific evidence to support the need for changes to Covid vaccine recommendations.
A representative from the CDC was noticeably missing from the announcement. The agency currently has no acting director, and late last week, RFK Jr. dismissed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.
Typically, changes to the federal immunization recommendations and schedule only occur after the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel discusses and votes on them. The committee did not meet or vote on the changes announced by Kennedy last month.
For those who still want to get their Covid vaccines, these changes could affect how much insurance will cover — if anything at all.
The national Covid emergency ended in 2020, which meant Covid-19 vaccines and boosters were no longer free and the uninsured would have to pay out of pocket.
The CDC’s vaccine guidance is what private insurers rely on to determine whether or not they will cover the costs of immunizations. Medicaid will only cover the full price of recommended vaccines, and children who are insured can receive free vaccinations through the Vaccines for Children Program only if those immunizations are recommended by the CDC.
Without insurance, Pfizer and Moderna shots for Covid-19 can cost as much as $150, according to the CDC’s site.
This is troubling for health experts who see the positive effects of Covid vaccines on vulnerable populations up close.
“As ob-gyns who treat patients every day, we have seen firsthand how dangerous COVID-19 infection can be during pregnancy and for newborns who depend on maternal antibodies from the vaccine for protection,” Steven Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in a statement. Research supports Fleischman’s claim.
“This decision could make it significantly harder for millions of Americans to access vaccines they want for themselves and their families,” Tina Tan, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said in a statement.
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