In a pivot from what it calls the “one-size fits all” approach to COVID-19 vaccination updates, the Trump administration announced Tuesday it will no longer routinely approve the annual shots for younger adults and children.
Adults over 65 and those with medical conditions that put them at severe risk of complications from COVID-19 will maintain access to the yearly shots sometimes referred to as boosters.
But manufacturers will have to conduct clinical trials to determine whether vaccination is beneficial for healthy younger adults and children.
The policy is a major change over the past few years when COVID-19 vaccine update approvals were streamlined similar to the way annual flu shots are approved.
The new direction raises issues of access for people who want the annual vaccine to reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections as well as the potential for hospitalization and death, says Neil Maniar, director of Northeastern University’s master of public health program.
