We were off last week, but still feel that it’s important to say something about the recent shooting at the CDC.
Many of us here at ZHH—and many of our readers and clients—have close working and personal relationships with public health officials at CDC. We were incredibly concerned to hear that a gunman fired nearly 200 shots at the Atlanta headquarters last week, killing one responding police officer.
The people who work at CDC are real human beings. They’re dedicated public servants, and many are parents whose children were in the daycare center nearby. Yes, there are things the agency could do better at a systemic level, but we can’t forget that these are individuals, trying their best to save lives every day.
If you know someone at CDC, reach out and share a note of support. For inspiration, check out YLE’s compilation of over 300 notes of support shared with CDC workers. You can donate via the CDC Foundation to the family of the fallen Dekalb County police officer, David Rose, who died protecting his community. And perhaps most importantly, you can commit—personally and professionally—to lowering the temperature and humanizing public health workers in your own context, whether on LinkedIn or in casual conversations. Small acts of solidarity matter.
We’ll start with the good news: flu and RSV shots should be available this year as usual. Flu shots will still be covered by insurance for anyone 6 months and older, and RSV is covered for those eligible (older, pregnant, and high risk folks). COVID vaccines are a different story, and we expect a lot of confusing updates in the next few weeks.
Right now, it looks like COVID vaccines will be available in the fall, but only for people at “high risk.” Normally by this point we would know who qualifies and what insurance will cover, but major shakeups at HHS disrupted the usual approval timeline. Without an official decision, there’s a lot still uncertain.
If you are under 65 and not at high risk, it may be hard for you to get an updated COVID shot this year. You can try to go to your pharmacy or doctor today, before the FDA’s label changes, but even then, we’re hearing stories of some people being turned away if they’re not high-risk and it hasn’t been a full year since their last dose. This window of opportunity is closing, because as soon as the FDA changes the recommendation, insurance is likely to stop covering the vaccine.
This week, the Vaccine Integrity Project, a new group of outside experts, will meet to make their recommendations. That’s key because we’re seeing (for the first time ever) medical societies like the American Academy of Pediatrics make recommendations that are different from the federal guidelines.
The next few days may be the last chance, however slim, for those not at high risk to get a COVID shot. No matter what, you can (and should!) still plan on getting your flu shot this fall, regardless of the uncertainty around COVID vaccines.
Source: YLE
For a more in-depth Q&A with the most common questions that your employees might have about this year’s flu shots, check out this quick article from KFF Health News: