HILLSBOROUGH CO., Fla. — Last month, the FDA approved the next round of COVID-19 vaccines, but this time with new restrictions, limiting the shots to anyone with underlying health conditions or adults 65 and older.
Until that point, the shot was recommended for anyone 6 months and older.
“What we’ve been seeing is a shift in the recommendations,” said Dr. Jill Roberts, a professor at the USF College of Public Health.
WATCH: CDC's vaccine advisers to meet Thursday and Friday to issue new guidance
Roberts disagrees with the FDA’s guidance.
“From a scientific standpoint, this makes no sense. The science did not change. The risks did not change. All this does is make the vaccine more difficult to actually get,” said Roberts.
The FDA’s limited recommendation caused some to panic over vaccine availability for anyone who wants the shot.
The president’s press secretary addressed this concern last month.
“The FDA’s decision does not affect the availability of COVID vaccines for Americans who want them. We believe in individual choice,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The next step in the vaccine approval process is getting a recommendation from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
“They typically meet and say thanks, FDA, we understand your recommendations. We’re going to fine-tune who should really receive this,” said Dr. Laura Arline, Chief Quality Officer for BayCare.
The CDC’s panel of advisers is meeting Thursday and Friday.
Thursday’s agenda shows discussions and votes on Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella (MMRV) vaccines.
On Friday, the panel is scheduled to vote on the updated COVID-19 vaccine.
By the end of the week, they are expected to issue a recommendation for the new COVID-19 vaccine.
Nationwide access to the vaccine will be impacted by the CDC ACIP recommendation.
That guidance also helps determine which vaccines insurance companies typically cover.
“Many of the pharmacies across the nation, and that includes Florida, they do not give out the vaccine unless the ACIP has indicated to whom,” said Arline.
The CDC’s panel of advisers is in the middle of a shakeup.
Earlier this year, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed all 17 of the previous sitting ACIP members.
He’s since replaced them with 12 of his own picks.
Kennedy has long been openly critical of the CDC.
“There’s a lot of trouble at the CDC, and it’s going to require getting rid of some people over the long term,” said Kennedy.
Some of the ACIP members have shared anti-vaccine sentiments and criticisms about the country’s COVID-19 response.
This has others in the medical community, like Roberts, worried that this ACIP recommendation could be based on political ideologies.
“All of our health advice should be based on science. And that’s it. Not anything else,” said Roberts.
If the CDC issues a similar, limited recommendation for the COVID-19 vaccine like the FDA, then for anyone who doesn’t fall into specific categories that would be mentioned in that recommendation, they’d likely have to get a doctor’s prescription if they want a vaccine.
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