Overview

• O’Neill signed off on ACIP’s recommendations, updating the adult and child immunization schedules and unlocking state orders of pediatric doses through the Vaccines for Children program.
• People ages 6 months and older may receive a COVID-19 shot after consulting a qualified provider, and CVS says it will offer vaccines nationwide without outside prescriptions.
• Advisers endorsed shared clinical decision-making and narrowly rejected requiring prescriptions, following the FDA’s August move to limit authorization to adults 65+ and certain high-risk younger people.
• Major medical societies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, continue to recommend vaccination for children, pregnant people and other high-risk groups, warning the shift could depress uptake and create barriers.
• For children under 4, the CDC advises giving varicella separately from MMR to avoid a small, rare increase in febrile seizures with the combined MMRV as a first dose, with MMRV still acceptable as the second dose at ages 4 to 6.