Fall Vaccine Guidance
Medical Organizations Issue New Fall Vaccine Guidance Amid Shifting Federal Recommendations
Anonymous
Leading U.S. medical organizations have issued fall vaccine guidance for flu and COVID-19, saying they aim to provide clear, science-based advice amid shifting federal recommendations; they recommend flu vaccination for nearly everyone 6 months and older. Separately, updated CDC online guidance reportedly recommends COVID-19 vaccination for adults and for immunocompromised children, while allowing vaccination of other children through shared decision-making; the guidance’s scope exceeds some FDA-approved indications, and the recommendations are entangled in litigation. Ireland’s winter campaign is also offering flu and COVID-19 vaccines to older adults and people with health conditions or weakened immune systems, with flu vaccination additionally advised for children, health care workers and pregnant people. The Irish program includes free, same-appointment vaccination for eligible people and an enhanced flu vaccine for adults 65 and older.
Key Points
1
The U.S. guidance was issued by four organizations—the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Infectious Diseases Society of America. AMA’s Dr. Sandra Fryhofer said there had been “a lot of confusion and chaos regarding vaccine recommendations.”
2
The CDC did not respond to questions about new fall guidance and its website pointed doctors to the previous year’s flu recommendations, according to the report. The article also notes that RSV is another vaccine-preventable winter risk.
3
Last winter, Ireland recorded nearly 5,935 hospitalizations with laboratory-confirmed flu and more than 2,000 with COVID-19. In the West and North West region, the totals were 1,335 flu hospitalizations and 305 COVID-19 hospitalizations; most affected people were 65 or older.
4
Ireland’s HSE plans to provide vaccinations to nursing-home and other residential-care residents and to people who are housebound. Its free nasal-spray flu vaccine for children aged 2–17 is needle-free, and some children may receive it through school programmes.
Sentiment
Mostly NegativeNEGATIVENEUTRALPOSITIVE
Publishers
20
Articles
17
Reach
37
A
AnonymousAuthor
