What to know about Covid, MMRV, hepatitis B vaccines after RFK Jr. changes

New recommendations last week from an influential vaccine panel handpicked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. broke with long-standing U.S. precedent on Covid shots and childhood immunization.

The changes by the group, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, could complicate access in some states and add to public confusion around U.S. vaccine policy.

Still, several health experts say Americans can take steps to try to secure the vaccines they or their children want or need. For some patients in certain states, access and coverage may not change much at all.

During a meeting in Atlanta last week, ACIP weakened Covid shot recommendations; voted against a combination jab against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox, or MMRV, for children under the age of 4; and indefinitely postponed a vote on whether to change its advisory around the hepatitis B vaccine administered at birth. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose director the Trump administration ousted in August, still needs to sign off on the recommendations. The agency typically adopts the guidance of ACIP, which issues recommendations on who should receive certain shots and which vaccines insurers must cover at no cost.

“They didn’t physically take the vaccines away, but they made it more confusing, they made it more bureaucratic, and by doing that, it disincentivizes people from getting vaccinated,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “It makes it harder for some people to get vaccinated. It creates more friction.” 

Two regional health alliances spanning several states are issuing broader vaccine recommendations than the federal government, and many states have signed directives that aim to preserve Covid shot access. At the same time, several major insurance plans have pledged to continue covering vaccines based on the panel’s previous guidance issued by former members.

For patients uncertain about the changes, experts recommend turning to trusted health-care providers or vetted medical groups that have issued their own vaccine recommendations. 

Many of the ACIP members emphasized concerns about vaccine side effects, raising doubts about shots long-proven safe and effective. That’s no surprise: Kennedy purged the committee in June and named 12 new members, many of whom have long criticized vaccines. 

The chaotic two-day meeting followed previous steps by Kennedy to limit access to vaccines, including the CDC’s decision to drop Covid shot recommendations for healthy kids and pregnant women, and the Food and Drug Administration’s limits on who can get new Covid jabs.

If you’re concerned about access to shots against Covid, MMRV and hepatitis B, here’s the latest on those vaccines and what you can do to get them.

In other words, the panel is recommending that everyone consult a health-care provider when deciding whether to receive a shot.

But some health experts said the panel should have recommended that all people at high risk of severe illness from Covid get the shot. That includes adults ages 65 and above; those under that age with at least one condition that puts them at high risk, such as cancer, obesity or chronic kidney disease; pregnant women; and children under the age of 2. 

Vaccination is paramount for those groups, as it helps prevent severe Covid and the risk of hospitalization or death due to the virus. 

“Their recommendation is treating Covid as if it’s the same for everybody…