FDA Approves Updated COVID Booster Vaccines

Just as COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country, the Food and Drug Administration approved new COVID shots for 2025-2026. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the news Wednesday in a post on X.

The new recommendations are limited when compared with previous years; fewer people, particularly children and people under 65, will have access to the vaccine.

The FDA approved this year’s COVID shots for people 65 and older, and anyone under 65 with underlying conditions, like asthma, that put them at high risk of severe COVID.

These guidelines are a major shift from last year, when every person six months and older was eligible for the shot, regardless of whether they had an underlying condition.

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This fall, COVID shots from Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax are available for everyone 65 and older, while children under 5 are no longer eligible for the Pfizer COVID shot, according to Kennedy’s post on X, because of the FDA revoking the emergency use authorization for COVID vaccines.

Children 6 months to 5 years old are now only able to get the Moderna shot. The Novavax shot is approved for people 12 and older. But, once again, these shots are only available for those under 65 who have underlying health conditions.

This move does not come without controversy, as the country’s leading pediatrics group recently went against earlier Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance that no longer recommends the shots for all children.

“Children, particularly those under [2 years old], will be disproportionately affected by the latest FDA ruling limiting access to COVID vaccines for only those children with underlying medical conditions,” said Dr. Anita Patel, a pediatric critical care doctor in Washington, D.C.

“As a pediatric ICU doctor and grant-funded researcher, the data couldn’t be more clear: Children under [2] are at increased risk of severe disease from a COVID-19 infection and vaccines in this age group conferred a [more than] 75% reduction in ICU admissions,” Patel said.

“In children 5-17, the COVID-19 vaccine conferred a [more than] 95% reduction in ICU admissions,” Patel added.

Child or adult, for those who can get this year’s COVID shot, “vaccination is still, by far, the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones,” Dr. Sarah Whitley Coles, a founding member of Those Nerdy Girls, an online organization that’s dedicated to sharing accurate health and science information, previously told HuffPost.

COVID shots help prevent severe illness, death and hospitalization. The new COVID shots target the recently circulating LP. 8.1 variant and are designed to better target the COVID variants that are dominant now.

These new COVID shots are not yet available in pharmacies, but will be soon, pending approval from the CDC, which is expected to come within a month, according to The New York Times. But the panel voting on the new shots are members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, all of which were appointed by RFK Jr. after he fired all former members. Many of the current members have an anti-vaccine history.

Once the shots are available, if you were sick with COVID recently, you can consider waiting three months post-infection for your COVID shot, but you don’t have to, according to the CDC.

If you got the 2024-2025 COVID shot over the summer, it’s also often advised that you wait a few months for your next shot. It’s best to talk to your doctor about when you should get your shot.

In his post on X, RFK Jr. wrote “these vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors” — it’s currently unclear who this applies to and what will be required of folks who want the vaccine but aren’t approved for it by the FDA. Plus, going to a doctor for vaccine approval will be a hurdle for many people.

This statement and the new guidelines as a whole are confusing and limiting when compared to previous years (once again, last fall, the shots were available to everyone 6 months and older), and will likely have cost implications and logistical challenges for many people who want the shot.

“Without FDA approval … insurance companies might not cover the cost, potentially leaving people to pay out of pocket or unable to get vaccinated at all,” Dr. Oni Blackstock, a primary care and HIV physician who is the founder and executive director of Health Justice, previously told HuffPost.

“Insurance companies are now de-incentivized to cover these vaccines — most importantly, those enrolled in the Vaccines for Children Program [a program that gives vaccines to kids whose families can’t afford them], that generally abides by the CDC-issued vaccine schedule,” Patel said.

If you aren’t able to get the shot this fall, there are things you can do to stay healthy.

First, those who are eligible for the new COVID shot should get it, particularly those who are at high risk for severe disease, Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine in the department of health policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, previously told HuffPost.

Those who can’t get the COVID shot this fall can protect themselves by wearing a high-quality mask in indoor spaces and washing their hands frequently, Dr. Emily Landon, the executive medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at UChicago Medicine, previously told HuffPost.

It’s also smart for everyone, vaccinated or not, to test for COVID when they have any signs of respiratory illness (congestion, runny nose, cough, fever, headache, fatigue).

If you do test positive, you may be eligible for antiviral treatments that can help you feel better faster. Your primary care doctor can determine whether COVID antiviral meds are right for you.