Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Future Covid Shots Limited To Adults 65+, Those At Risk Of Severe Illness
The Food and Drug Administration will permit use of Covid vaccines by adults over 65 and those with certain medical conditions in the fall, but may require additional studies before approving the shots for healthy Americans younger than 65, agency officials said on Tuesday. At this point, the additional doses offer 鈥渦ncertain鈥 benefits to many young and middle-aged people who have already been vaccinated or have had Covid, Dr. Vinay Prasad, the F.D.A.鈥檚 vaccine division chief, and Dr. Martin Makary, the agency鈥檚 commissioner, wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine. (Jewett and Mandavilli, 5/20)
A new framework for Covid-19 vaccines announced by Food and Drug Administration leaders Tuesday suggests the agency will no longer approve new Covid vaccines for healthy individuals under 65, including babies, without data from new randomized clinical trials showing their benefit. (McFarling, 5/20)
The Trump administration announced a major change on Tuesday to U.S. COVID-19 vaccination policy: healthy children and younger adults will no longer be recommended to get an annual COVID-19 vaccine. While some celebrated the changes in recommendations, Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) influencer Diana Atieh was disappointed with the decision, as the vaccine is still recommended for other groups. (Mordowanec, 5/20)
The Covid-19 virus in the U.S. has largely faded from view. But it hasn鈥檛 faded away. National wastewater data shows low Covid-19 activity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The weekly reported Covid-19 deaths in April were slightly down compared with the same time a year earlier, federal data shows. Still, more than 300 Covid-19-related deaths were reported weekly as recently as mid-April. (Abbott, 5/20)