The CDC still hasn't issued COVID vaccine guidelines, leaving access in limbo

It's been difficult for parents to get their kids COVID-19 shots recently, arsenic good arsenic for galore patient adults, since nan CDC hasn't weighed successful pinch charismatic guidelines for administering them. Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images

Remy Sweeney-Garrett desperately wants to get her daughters vaccinated against COVID-19. But truthful acold that's been impossible.

"I'm very worried, and frustrated," says Sweeney-Garrett, 34, who lives successful Seattle pinch her 9-year-old girl Maxine and 18-month-old girl Maeve. "And, yeah, I'm angry."

Sweeney-Garrett hasn't been capable to get her daughters nan shots because nan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to rumor last guidelines for administering them. The rules are basal for nan national Vaccines for Children Program to commencement shipping nan vaccines to doctors, wellness departments and others. About half of U.S. kids are eligible for shots done nan program.

"I'm worried astir my youngest girl successful peculiar having to spell to nan infirmary because she is susceptible to respiratory complications," Sweeney-Garrett says. "And it's frustrating because I consciousness for illustration this is wrong nan power of nan group successful our government."

The lag by nan CDC is very unusual. Typically, nan CDC acts wrong days — sometimes hours — because of nan urgency of getting shots into arms earlier nan wintertime surge.

The hold has created "a batch of disorder some among nan nationalist and moreover among providers astir what nan position is," says Dr. Susan Kansagra, main aesculapian serviceman for nan Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Sweeney-Garrett is acold from alone.

"We person parents asking each time for vaccines. They want nan COVID vaccine," says Dr. Elias Kass, who's nan Sweeney-Garrett family's doctor. "And we don't person it. And we don't person an ETA. We don't person anything. We don't want kids to beryllium sick. We person nan opportunity to forestall that suffering. And we arsenic a nine are blowing it."

The CDC's hold has besides forced adults seeking vaccination to proceed navigating an often confusing and frustrating patchwork of authorities rules that have, successful galore places, made it difficult if not intolerable for them to get vaccinated too. Even though galore states person taken steps to make it easier for group to get nan vaccines, immoderate still require prescriptions and immoderate pharmacists are still turning distant group who can't archive they meet caller eligibility requirements.

"It's a mess. And it's an easy avoidable mess," says Dorit Reiss, who studies vaccine policies astatine nan University of California, San Francisco. "They chose not to return action. I deliberation it will harm nationalist wellness and nan consequence will beryllium much COVID-19 and much harm from it."

The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees nan CDC, did not instantly respond to NPR's requests for remark aliases explanation.

This year's rollout of nan COVID vaccines has been unusually chaotic from nan start. Until this year, anyone 6 months aliases older could get vaccinated by their pharmacist without a prescription. But for nan first clip this year, nan Food and Drug Administration only approved nan caller shots for group astatine consequence for superior complications because of their property aliases health, causing wide disorder and frustration.

Then nan CDC's powerful Advisory Committee connected Immunization Practices, which Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. packed pinch like-minded anti-vaccine members, weighed successful astir nan nuts and bolts of making them wide available.

After a tumultuous two-day gathering past month, Kennedy's committee recommended adding a caller hoop to getting vaccinated, but besides took steps that could make much group eligible, fto much pharmacists springiness nan shots and commencement shipping nan vaccines for kids.

But nan CDC has yet to judge those recommendations — freezing everything successful limbo.

"This is simply a captious portion of enabling downstream access," says Kansagra of nan Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. "It's a immense problem."

And now pinch nan authorities unopen down, nary 1 knows erstwhile nan CDC mightiness yet enactment aliases what nan agency mightiness do.

Officials are particularly worried because of nan upcoming wintertime respiratory reason.

"We don't cognize precisely really bad a play it could be, but it could surely beryllium very bad," says Dr. Philip Huang, head of nan Dallas Health and Human Services section successful Texas. "It's very frustrating. Our jobs are being made harder alternatively than easier."