Do you want a covid-19 vaccination this fall? For many Americans, it is not clear how easy it will be to get one – or if they have lost the choice.
The Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was a long time anti-vaccination activist, said this week that the blows not recommended For healthy children and pregnant women, usurping a decision normally taken by scientific experts, not named politicians.
The announcement follows a Trump administration step before Limit COVVI-19 vaccinations Among healthy people under the age of 65.
Until now, the United States – according to the advice of independent experts who advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – has recommended annual vaccinations COVID -19 for every 6 months and more.
Together, the movements have left health experts, vaccines and uncertain insurers to know what to advise and what comes next.
“This will add a lot of confusion overall,” said Ajay Sethi, epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
How can I get a blow of COVID-19 for myself or my healthy child?
Some of the vaccine of this season are always available. Experts from the insurance sector say that if people had insurance coverage before Kennedy’s announcement, it is very unlikely that this ended instantly on the basis of the secretary’s video announcement. This means that if someone could find a blow, he could probably get one for the moment.
Will I always be able to choose a blow in the fall for myself or my child?
Who can get the vaccines this fall is not yet clear.
Vaccine manufacturers plan to issue COVVI-19 updates updated at the end of summer or fall. But the Food and Drug Administration said it was planning to limit the approval of seasonal shots to the elderly and others at high risk, pending more studies on everyone.
Even if the United States only approves vaccines only for certain groups, it may always be possible for others to obtain the photo depending on the outcome of upcoming advisory meetings, regulatory movements and decisions of insurers and employers.
Will my insurance still pay?
Basic insurers of coverage decisions on the recommendations of this CDC panel, the advisory committee for vaccination practices. It is not clear what role this panel will play now. Payment of the pocket could cost around $ 200.
But some insurers and employers may decide to cover the shots, whatever the new recommendations, said Jen Kates, the main vice-president of the non-profit KFF, which studies health care problems. She noted that they could consider expenses as valid if it avoids a higher invoice of someone hospitalized by the coronavirus.
What is considered an increased risk?
The FDA has published a list of health problems which, according to them, would qualify, in particular asthma, cancer, diabetes, obesity and physical inactivity. The CDC has a larger list.
But, once again, we do not yet know how it will take place. For example, it could be difficult for people to prove that they are qualified. If they are vaccinated in a pharmacy, for example, the pharmacist would not normally know the underlying health problems or even would ask. Kates said that it is not clear if Kennedy’s decision would affect if the doctors recommend that.
And Sethi, the expert Uw-Madison, said that “this elephant in the room” is that blocking healthy vaccination can mean that people who have a risk factor and simply do not know that it will lack.
Adding to the confusion, the FDA included a recent pregnancy and pregnancy on the list of conditions that would qualify someone for a blow – but Kennedy said that pregnancy was no longer a qualification in his announcement this week.
COVID-19 complications during pregnancy may include premature births as well as serious illnesses in the mother, and the society of maternal-fetal medicine said that it “strongly reaffirms” its vaccination recommendation during pregnancy.
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