I strongly suspect you’re going to have doctors leaning forward on what constitutes a preexisting condition in this case. I think the Hippocratic oath may even require it. The booster provides additional protection for an illness that *usually* resolves quickly but can lead to serious illness …
Do you know if this set of requirements means you need an actual referral/prescription from a doctor, or if you can just show up at a pharmacy and say "I am under 65 but high risk"?
Most of us can find "something" (overweight, pre-diabetes, live with a vulnerable pop, etc). The REAL issue is ACCESS. Previously, I went to the pharmacy and got a shot, done. If we have to first get in to see a doctor, and THEN go to a pharmacy, the drop off will be huge. A timely dr appt? Cost? 😂
I don't want "doctors leaning forward" to give me a prescription. I want a pharmacist just giving it to me. I have great health insurance and still have to schedule primary care months out. If I have to do that to get a shot, I live 120 miles from Richmond BC, and there's great food there. Faster.
The problem will be access, whether your insurance pays for it, whether you have to somehow get a doctor's sign-off.
I get vaccinations by walking to the (not yet closed) Rite-Aid blocks away and asking for them, not by figuring out how I can possibly talk to a doctor and get a prescription.
THIS. It's absolutely not whether a doctor will give you a prescription, it's about seeing the doctor in the first place, just to get a routine annual vaccine, when you're a full grown up adult.
I suppose if they really want us to die horrible deaths, we'll need a dr. appt for a tetanus booster.
The problem isn't the doctors in this case, it's the insurance companies that will no longer have to pay for it, which is the entire point of what they're doing. Well, that and killing poor people.
CNN claims 3/4 of Americans have a preexisting condition
"Nearly three-quarters of Americans age 6 months and older have an underlying medical condition that puts them at higher risk, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
2/ and can lead to long term disability. This is not theoretical. I have a close friend who is permanently and severely debilitated from what was initially a relatively mild case of Covid. The purported watchword for these malevolent clowns was choice. This isn’t choice. It’s using state …
I mean, yeah, it is now. Before covid, he was totally healthy with no preconditions. My worry is for all the currently totally healthy kids who should get boosters to prevent them from developing arrhythmias at a ridiculously young age. This new policy will hurt people who don't have preexistings.
What can we still do? Society means looking out for each other. Even those who believe themselves invulnerable need to realize it’s time to wear a mask when we share air. There are better mask options now that at the start of the ongoing pandemic. Support your mask bloc so others can access them:
What if someone hasn't been diagnosed yet and protections for preexisting conditions are removed. So, say I want my kid with no preexisting conditions to get a booster, are we setting them up for potential problems by getting them diagnosed with something like Asthma? (Already have a nebulizer)
The earliest stats on COVID indicated that it was hitting racialized communities hardest (because they are heavily concentrated in service jobs). And that's why Kushner decided to take zero steps to protect the public.
The operative word is not choice. The operative word is racism.
Currently the vaccines are administered at pharmacies. To enforce the immuno-compromised exception I assume a certified doctor's note would be required for people w transplants, AIDS, on chemotherapy?
Even taking a so-called "biologic" for something like psoriasis depresses immune response...
Immunocompromised vaccine getter here: scheduling with pharmacy & telling them "I'm immunocompromised" has been all I've needed to do to get vaccines not otherwise covered at my age.
I doubt they'd add more verification work for employees if not forced to by insurance or government.
That said, this administration isn't above adding bullshit to make things they dislike harder, as we can see with how they have slowed down Social Security. So that's a real concern.
But the current status is not that bad, in my experience.
Doctors will need to basically stop relying on HHS for vaccine recommendations and instead use those of professional societies. Individual states may need to create their own guidelines as well to maintain conformity.
This is only the FDA supposedly, and not CDC. It looks like the Biden admin did some shenanigans with the Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices that creates the vaccine schedule by installing enough members so that RFK Jr can’t appoint new ones until 2027.
And he claims they don't have enough data versus placebo, when they do, and it is publicly available on the FDA website. Quite chilling he doesn't know that, doesn't care, and would dismiss it
I get Boosters every year. Also Flu shots and this year RSV and measles (thank you, anti-vaxxers). My husband caught a bad respiratory infection after our last cruise, but I did not. No Covid either, but did catch influenza A. :-(
Also very importantly, those of us who are caregives for vulnerable people — eg., my mom has Stage 4 cancer — put them at risk if we’re not boosted. Especially because we may be asymptomatic given our fading immunity. If I can’t get boosted, I put her compromised immune system at risk.
I wonder if this to make it easier to sue doctors & phara if you get side affects, especially anyone under 65. Remember RFK works with the compaies that do that.
I just said the same to my husband. I don’t want to have to miss a week of work because I feel like shit (and that’s a best case scenario..with Covid, there’s a v real additional possibility of long term effects)
Thx. Hadn’t seen his before. Looks like we’re headed in that direction again given today’s news on the Covid vaccine for over 65. Makes the elderly exposed/more vulnerable as younger people around them may not be vaxed. The hypocrisy is stunning.
I got COVID in January of 2024. I’d put off my most recent booster by a couple of months. It was awful. I ran fever for over a week. I got it as soon as they were updated last year because I didn’t want to go through that again. Fuck him.
I and the folks I work with have all been sick with something that resembles COVID but tests negative. Some (me) have had it twice; it went away then came back milder. We’re certain it’s a mutation that doesn’t show up on current tests.
The entire profession has been chickenshit mother fuckers going along with insurance companies!
My neighbor is a doctor that could give 2 shits, and always goes along. He also believes both political parties are the same!
These coddled fuckers are not always the brightest.
I'm sorry about what happened to your friend. I've also had long covid for just over a year after a relatively mild case. Not as severe as what you described but good lord, no one knows in advance how covid will affect them. It's like playing Russian roulette.
I also imagine that the pharmaceutical industry is NOOOOT going to be happy with this. Still, the anti-vaxxers running things aren't going to care (hell, they'll probably think it's a plus).
No, leave it to individuals to decide. There's no reason Texas should be able to tell Texans who want to be vaccinated that they can't get the vaccine.
We all know that the insurance companies will be basing their coverage on this right? So even people with access will be left paying OOP or unable to afford.
States with strong public health histories could have a public health director write standing orders to allow pharmacists to administer than and allow patient self attestation.
They just crushed the market for pharmaceuticals to produce the vaccine. Costs of the vaccine are going to skyrocket, insurance will start hesitating, another inflation factor.
Come to Canada and go to a pharmacy with your passport. Shots are free, and we don't require you to have health insurance to get the covid vaccine. You just need a photo id that has your birthdate and address.
The farce of it all is The Golden Dome defense shield supposedly protecting us from outside threats while “enemies” slowly poisoning citizens from within. Gutting NOAA, NIH & FDA is a dream scenario for them.
Fiction writers from 30 years ago had bestsellers on this type of warfare.
Protective “innovations,” like the Golden Dome can be traced back to B rated 1950s sci fi writing. Curtis Yarvin has plagiarized passages from that genre because Technocrats dig that stuff.
Please don’t make this a general slam against those who don’t want to be vaccinated. CHOICE means people get to opt into vaccines as well. If non-elderly want to get the Covid vax they should be able to. Especially because it can have long-term effects. This decision is very ignorant.
If the choice only affected you, fine, die all you want. But it doesn't. It affects anyone and everyone you come into contact with, and you put them all at risk, knowingly, because you were more concerned about a mild headache some joint aches for a couple days than other people's lives. Fuck you.
The problem with this is that those of us who support vaccines saw this coming from a mile away; the anti-vax position is not and has never been about individual choice but rather about eliminating access to vaccines for everyone; as evidenced by this move and those that will be coming.
Also once your "individual choice" fails to account for how avoiding some minor inconvenience will result in killing people... you're too immature to make decisions.
Replace vaccines with fire safety. Everyone realizes that burning down a building to avoid some minor inconvenience makes you an ass
I’m a long COVID patient with reactive arthritis throughout my body since infection. The brain fog isn’t temporary and not improved a very small but over 2 years. It’s horrible. I am getting a damn booster this summer/autumn
We had projections in 2021 that by 2023 proved to be spot on:
After 10 COVID infections, one's chance of having Long COVID are 93%. The spot on, that same projection said after 2 infections 25% 3 infections 37%...those were exactly what shook out.
I developed like 6 new allergies after catching COVID the second time. And I've been vaxed and boosted the entire time. I know it could have been a lot worse though, especially if I hadn't.
Ugh, I feel bad for your friend.. We might also want to prepare for RFK Jr and company to make up nonsense that COVID doesn't cause long term disability and long COVID is a lie. 😩
It is not theoretical at all. Despite being vaxxed and boosted, I got a mild case in Aug '23 and have yet to recover. I'm not totally debilitated, but can only count on operating at 50% or so any given day, some days more, some much less.
They were. But now I'm 62, I've had it twice and have no desire to do it again. And I'm going on a cruise in the fall with my 84yo mom. I would like to get a booster around 9/15.
Agree. I’m one of the lucky people who never got COVID. And I’m over 65. But FFS, they want to condemn a large part of the population, including children, to the chance of serious damage to their health.
The data is still quite fuzzy on these cases. Not that the people are not debilitated, but whether the ultimate cause was this particular virus or not. Post-viral syndromes exist for many viruses.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is another post-viral illness, and it is nearly identical symptomatically to Long Covid. We just do not know how these things work or how to blame one virus over any other someone might have been infected by.
And you're absolutely correct -- the anti-mandate crowd demanded the freedom to choose; RFK Jr and his Minions of Malice want to stop vaccines, based on warped notions and bizarre schemes.
I say we just go by the same qualifications insurance companies seemed to use when they were allowed to deny coverage based on preexisting conditions--having been born is a preexisting condition.
Except my kids and I have always gotten our vaccines at the pharmacy. The pediatrician doesn’t even carry the Covid vaccine, and the pharmacy absolutely won’t just give you the vaccine without you having proof that you fall into that high risk category.
i would hope so, considering the lasting damage even an asymptomatic or “mild” symptomatic case causes…. 🫠 we can’t just increase people’s stroke / clotting risk via infections and then say they have no preconditions.
also what is the fucking point of forcing people to get preconditions in order to get access to the thing that could’ve reduced their chances of getting those preconditions by 30%
also if 30% seems like it’s not a lot of protection, i would agree.
vaccines are miracles, but some of them—including current covid vaccines—don’t prevent all transmission and infection, and should be part of a multilayered strategy.
The following are all eligible pre-existing conditions:
1) High Blood Pressure (even if controlled)
2) Diabetes
3) Elevated Cholesterol
4) Elevated BMI (which is most people in the US)
I'm sorry but the vast majority of healthcare providers won't even mask or bother to clean the air for vulnerable people. What makes you think they will bend over backwards to help people qualify for boosters?
The problem here is that adds an extra gatekeeper to getting a routine vaccination. When I schedule a routine vaccination appointment at my pharmacy, they don't ask for permission from a doctor at this point or look for an Rx. If I have to get a doctor's appointment to get one, that's an issue.
If people have to contact a PCP to ask for authorization before they can get the shot that's a barrier for many and imposition of more computerwork for dr.'s offices
This morning I had a hushed conversation at a pharmacy to get my Covid booster scheduled for tomorrow. Literally whispering over the counter, as if we were discussing something illegal. He motioned that once this is implemented, they'll be handcuffed if they defy this. It was surreal.
You are unfortunately making an assumption that I fear will not ring true in conservative states. Also, no one should need a doctor's note to go to the pharmacy and get a vaccine.
Basically they need to think like a health insurance company in 2007 learning that a client has cancer. What can they possibly do to plausibly claim a preexisting condition exists?
Your doctor can prescribe it off-label, as in the case of the. Novavax vaccine.
“Prescribing the shots in healthy people under 65 would be considered off-label use, making it less likely that insurers would broadly cover the shots.”
Doctors aren't bound by FDA usage recommendations, they are free to prescribe a drug "off-label" for any patient or condition (eg ivermectin to treat Covid).
I suspect doctors will simply use the booster off-label. The problem is that insurance may not pay for off-label usage.
Insurance is the problem. Unless Insurance companies ignore this guidance bc their actuaries convince them that it'll cost more money to not give boosters they will not pay for boosters
And you might need to go to the doctor’s office to have the vaccine administered. I prefer pharmacy vaccinations, because those guys vaccinate people all day long and know how to do it right, whereas MDs are not particularly skilled at vaccinating patients. Smart insurance carriers will cover this
I would imagine insurance would also recognize the long term cost savings of allowing their customers to remain boosted against COVID and allow for this sort of off-label usage.
Absolutely. The vast majority of ppl still getting vaccinated were already in the 65+ or at high risk group. But others are likely to be able to access it bc even insurance companies prefer opl to get it. The news is bad but I’m not sure it will in practice limit access much.
The NEJM commentary piece includes the following list of CDC-recognized "high risk factors" that would qualify one for a booster regardless of age. The fact that "physical inactivity" and "smoking" are both on the list would seem to create some perverse incentives...
How the hell are autoimmune conditions not on that list? A friend with psoriatic arthritis was nearly hospitalized because of COVID and has been on getting additional vaccines ahead of schedule because of it.
If “heart conditions, followed by a just a few possible types of cardiac abnormalities listed as possible examples, is there (and was & should be), then both forms of noted hypertension should be pushed for in this by cardiologists & PCP’s. Primary is more vague, but still, a case can easily be made
I’m going to have to tell my primary care doctor that I’ve become a smoker at age 61. It’s not entirely untrue – since January I’ve become fond of my vape and use it regularly, just not for tobacco.
Unfortunately I think they're no longer quite so perishable, since that's how I was able to get vaccinated in mid-March of 2021 - buddy was a pharmacist and they had defrosted vaccines with no-show eligible patients so he gave me a heads up and I drove 45 minutes to be able to claim an unused dose.
Not all of them. My kid and I had to talk her pcp into giving her the recommended meningitis booster at 16. The one that is recommended for all teens, not the different, additional vaccine for higher risk young people. Just the standard CDC rec. Not some hippie woo provider either.
It took 3 years for my *mild* brain fog to go away and that was from a COVID infection I received about a month before the first boosters were available.
Having a static fuzz brain was the absolute worst experience.
Same, though mine cleared up in 2 years, thank goodness.
It was so weird to struggle to find words for the first time in my life, but whenever I reached for them they simply weren’t there.
True, but I expect insurance companies to push back on paying for it. "Wrong diagnosis code: doesn't indicate qualifying risk." The people who can pay cash will be able to get the shot.
United Health Care Advantage HMO your doctor has to request for an authorization (on everything outside of the office). And then it is determined by a contracted outside entity whether it’s authorized or not (who are notorious for their denials).
I have a feeling good Doctors will be able to work around this for the health and safety of their patients (unless the DJT Administration states conditions that would be excluded.)
None of the unqualified anti-science people in the Trump regime should be making health decisions for our citizens.
But the insurance companies will use this in order to deny payment. You have any idea what you're charged as a person for a vaccination? Talk to your doctor but the last person I know who got a quote from a pharmacist it was for more than $500
Yes. My husband has Crohn's. If my son and I can get that vaccine, it helps him. I'm so mad at moron Republicans I can't see straight. Wishing the best for you and your wife.
I have a 20 year old, a 15 year old, and a husband who are not my caregivers, but given that I am on 3 different immune suppressants for an autoimmune disorder are affected by this decision. Any chance you’re interested in hearing from them?
Sending strength to you and your wife. My husband had leukemia in 2023. Went through 9 months of treatment and BMT..it was very tough but he is fine today. There is a very good success rate for many blood cancers. Stay strong…you can do this.
I’ve been saying that anyone still supporting those monsters are either morons or monsters themselves. But you’re right… Probably both and it’s a really really awful combination.
It is not stupidity, but worse. This is intentional and very dark and it violates their oath of safety and security for citizens. They have only just begun…
…buddy, you know they’re all getting their vaccine. They’re just able to pay for it. This is what they think they can get away with without full rebellion and consequences
TIP: Discuss with your doctor. Use ANYTHING to create a "condition" qualifying you and your family members for vaccinations that can save your life and make illnesses far less deadly.
I had covid last year. Even with a booster, it knocked me on my ass for a month (I’m in my 50s, healthy, no underlying conditions). My Dr said the booster was likely what kept me out of the hospital, which is the point.
I am also afflicted w this terrible condition. I also have a rare disorder where I want my public-school-attending kids to have functioning respiratory and circulatory systems later on in adulthood. Currently, there is no cure for it
These really are the most vile people on the planet. And they all believe they are supermen that will never get sick, get old etc. Cant wait to see which among them win the Herman Caine award this year.
Yep, just left a scathing comment regarding how they are DECREASING the level of protection for those like me who will be "allowed" to get the vaccine by preventing others. (I actually said this idiotic policy is an attempt to kill me and shame on them for doing that for political gain AGAIN!)
We 65+-ers are a force to be reckoned with, many of us with nothing to lose. The last protest rally I went to was predominantly older folks. We KNOW what bullshit criminality this is. I was around before vaccines. I was there for the first doses of it. We. know.
🤬 I’m 65 and just took my SS and Medicare last summer. I guess I’m one of the parasitic class to them even though I’ve already paid my whole life. Nobody gave me Medicare or social security. I paid for it!!
I have stage 4 cancer. I've gotten it twice from my son. Last time I was hospitalized for 4 days. So could have died but instead ended up with a huge hospital bill. I've had 4 shots and just think about how sick I could have gotten WITHOUT the boosters.
The COVID-19 vaccines reduce risk of severe disease, hospitalization & death. They're unable to prevent infection or spread of SARS-2. Vaccinated people can spread SARS-2/COVID-19.
Wearing a well fitting N95 or better prevents infection & spread. Air purifiers with HEPA remove SARS-2 from the air.
Yes, my 82-yo mother lives in an assisted care facility. Her vaccination will help her, but living in a facility where everybody under the age of 65 MUST BE UNVACCINATED is madness.
Not to mention, you know, family members who visit.
It’s how I was able to get vaccinated in the very early time of covid vaccines before my 80 year old immunocompromised mother who I live with and care for. I didn’t even have to pull the I’m a medical provider card (I’m an LAc but wasn’t seeing patients actively at that moment) to get one.
Neither my mother nor me have gotten covid so far. Just crossing my fingers we are considered immunocompromised enough to get the covid vax. I’ve already heard from someone with asthma and diabetes (both immunocompromised conditions) that they were denied the covid vax earlier this week.
Caregivers of immunocompromised people are also considered high risk, so it'd be new policy to not include them. I can't read the article (I don't have a login) so I don't know whether they're changing the rules on that or not. :/
Also, as he pointed out, he cares for an immunocompromized person, if he gets sick, there is a HIGH chance of it being passed on and being serious for the immunocompromised person.
Because RFK Jr. is a eugenicist. Gymbros like him see vaccine preventable diseases as "nature's cleansing", and see anyone dying of those diseases as "unworthy of life".
They never think through a damn thing. Through their lens of great privilege, people like RFK Jr. have nutty ideas about how the world works and think it's their right to force everyone to live like them.
Yup. One of their primary goals is to dismantle most of the federal government, and particularly all the departments that provide services to the average American: DoE, FDA, HHS, CDC, NIH, NOAA, the post office, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, etc, etc
THANK YOU. I've been saying all along that we are focusing on the wrong evil men in this Admin. Elon was a side show clown (who indeed enacted drastic and evil changes), but the real evil is that our government is being run by a single Lobbying firm - The Heritage Foundation.
Nah, there are probably a few hippies in the bunch, and however you want to categorize RFK's brain worm, but the main driver is religious extremists, mostly evangelical fundamentalists and trad Cath types.
There are some from the hippie “natural is always good” culture. But many if not most are religious zealots. The several people I know who are anti-vax are all also fundamentalist Christians, many of whom believe the earth is 6,000 years old.
I know a few people who aren’t religious extremists who chose not to vaccinate their kids. But the people who oppose vaccines for adults—who want to prohibit other people from choosing to get vaccinated—are all motivated by radical religious beliefs.
Soon, Americans will be required to carry proof of vaccination when they travel, like we're coming from some unvaccinated 3rd world country - oh, wait, that's what we'll be. I know the EU takes vaccinations very seriously.
Most provinces in Canada put restrictions on non residents for pharmaceuticals and vaccines. Eventually, the border requirements will change that all visitors will have to provide proof of vaccination similar to 2022 when the border opened up after Covid. No shots no entry.
Insurance won't cover it if you're not in the recommended group. Many people can't afford to pay out of pocket, and those who can pay may be denied the vaccine on the basis of not being in the recommended group. This is severely restricted access, not choice.
You can.
The FDA has not broadly restricted COVID-19 vaccines but has shifted its approach to recommending them, focusing on high-risk groups rather than universal recommendations. As of May 2025, the FDA announced it will no longer recommend yearly COVID-19 vaccines for most Americans.
Yes, perhaps they can still prescribe it, though will that be discouraged based on the recommendations? And if supplies are intentionally limited, folks will have trouble getting the boosters regardless of recommendation or prescription. And yeah, either way the poorest people are getting screwed
You're mixing up two different events. 1-the FDA recently approved the Novavax COVID vaccine, but it's only available for high-risk individuals. 2-the FDA is now limiting ALL COVID boosters to high-risk individuals. Healthy people who still want to protect their immunocompromised relatives are SOL.
All true. This thread was originally about the vaccine, which is still available to all (except novavax), but is morphing into boosters, which will probably be available to all after trials, IF found safe.
FDR was near the end of drafting legislation that would have made health care a basic human right. After his passing, the republicans buried his work. The GOP wants all the power & wealth. They never wanted a democracy, because that would mean an equitable share of wealth & civil liberties for all.
Morally wrong and will also continue to collapse our already privatized for-profit healthcare industry. We get sicker, we get long covid, worker productivity crashes, life expectancy continues to shorten, private insurance collapses, hospitals can’t pay their bills so even more close.
We have until this Friday 5/23 to leave a comment speaking against this at the government regulation website. You don’t need to choose a comment category and you can comment anonymously. Make your voices be heard!
B@st@rds!!! There will be a lot of Covid now because of this. This is just one of the many ways they have found to ki11 us all. But you can bet they will all be vaccinated. If we're not billionaires we are useless to them.
So that means anyone working with our most vulnerable populations, sick, elderly, young children will not have an opportunity to receive a booster unless they are over 65?!
Ummm, herd immunity… anyone, anyone? This is just going to cause the creation of new and more severe or contagious strains. If I’m wrong, please someone let me know, because I’m not a virologist or a scientist or an MD, and I’m open to learning.
So Trump, with an assist from RFK jr, is going to try for a pandemic do over? Good Lord. Those anti-vac suburban moms who gave us RFK jr are going to have a lot to answer for.
Ah, America. Do you get healthcare without going into debt that would bankrupt most families? No. But does that extortionate price at least give you choices in the healthcare you receive? Also no.
Come get yours in Ontario, Canada! Go to a pharmacy and bring your private insurance card or some cash. Also, vaccines are cheaper here than in the states, just in case you don't have insurance.
This will de incentivize drug companies to even produce the vaccine. Why invest in updating vaccines if you are losing so much of your customer base? Also will accelerate virus mutations.
That's why they want to outlaw abortion. It doesn't matter how many of us die if there are more on the way. Making people distrust medicine is just their way of getting us to stop asking for universal healthcare.
They will stop developing the vaccine if it’s not financially worthwhile. That’s the point of this. MAGA wants us all to die, not just the anti-vaxxers.
Yep. It is still free and your choice in New Zealand. If I remember correctly we also listened to our scientists, stayed home, wore masks and not only our people but our economy survived the Pandemic.
Good thing I have conditions that put me at risk, I guess? I mean, it's idiocy.
My doctor's office has told me in the past just to go to the nearest pharmacy for my flu and covid shots, but if they're going to be restricted like this...
for context, if you think Europe is a land of vaccine enlightenment, this is also virtually the same policy as in the Netherlands (where I live), in regards to both Covid and flu. I used to get vaccines in the US on our annual trips...
Me before this decision: "The fact that I am 'overweight' under BMI is ridiculous."
Me after: "Maybe this 17th century French sociologist was onto something!"
Patients, make sure your primary care provider ACCURATELY diagnoses and codes your chronic medical conditions so you will qualify for your booster. Ask to see your chart summary and confirm the ICD codes are appropriate and full.
We all have to do our best now to find a fit under one of the stupid categories so we can cajole our doctors to get a shot. My speech: I use my asthma inhaler twice a year but remember how sick I get for weeks anytime I get a cold and u had to send me for a lung function test? Gimme.
Are they actually making it illegal or something along those lines to get the shot on request if you don't fit in their criteria? If so, how can that be legal?
I'm assuming the restrictions will mean that health insurers won't cover it if you don't meet the criteria. You could still get it, but you'll have to pay out of pocket.
Flu shots are not age restricted. Increasing the number of vaccinated people in the population, makes those at high risk safer. Vaccines are not 100% effective. This is a stupid policy.
But the gov’t subsidizes them making them possible for lower income people on Medicaid and other programs. I got a HUGE bill once when I was in between policies.
Well, you could take the shot since there is no change in the recommendations for your age group. They are only trying to kill younger people and those who can't get vaccinated that they will infect.
They are doing this because studies show that when you tell white people about how much worse COVID impacts POC and their communities, they become appreciably more negative towards the vaccine.
The white supremacy eugenics numbers game: "It will kill more POC than whites, so let's do it."
Young people are more resistant huh?
The virus needs that kind of environment to develop their counter offensive.
Virus are like people too, they love a challenge, and will bank on your incompetence.
It is true that young people have less, but not no, risk of acute effects, but they can still get end-organ inflammatory damage, the next big time bomb of Covid, and they can transmit, arguably to a greater degree if less likely to be symptomatic.
I am hoping this can be challenged legally? Just watch l- they are going to do the same thing with childhood vaccines. What happened to personal choice?
They believe that mandating vaccinations for thing like employment was wrong. Personal freedoms. So the answer is to *prevent* people from getting vaccinated, even those who want it? How is that personal freedomy? Their positions are intellectually incoherent. Entirely grievance and revenge.
So the MAGA hypocrites, who screamed that requiring vaccination was a violation of their "freedom" to determine their vaccination decisions are denying people's "freedom" to make the same choice!
1/
That is not moral, logical, consistent principle; it is hypocrisy and arrogance, as well as unscientific. The dumbest, least educated regime thinks it knows that sufficient 'herd immunity' exists, but they don't have the data and, worse, they don't CARE.
2/2
Exactly, no data behind their concept of herd immunity. They are more interested in fulfilling their sadistic fantasies: how many humans will suffer and die?
Not only is this anti individual liberty, it’s anti science. Flu vaccines are recommended for everyone. What’s different about Covid, which is deadlier? Oh right the conspiracy theory addled right that doesn’t want to accept facts.
I’ll be very interested to see what my provider (Kaiser) does with this. And I’ll continue to mask until… yeah I’ll just keep masking and not eating in groups indoors and being cautious because somehow systemic problems get solved at the individual level now.
These folks are just trying to kill all the rest of and steal our money. Trump has turned the government into his own personal ATM and is giving out cash cards to all his buddies. This is what our government looks like when it’s ran by criminals.
Absolute horseshit. Their “evidence-based” justification—which I have no idea why @nejm.org would publish—has a thesis that boils down to “public trust in vaccines has eroded, therefore let’s reduce vaccinations”
It’s fucking forced suffering. Unnecessary suffering. It’s abuse! And it flies in the face of our Constitution’s preamble. They are treasonous bastards. Again and again and again.
There is no question but that this "administration" means to harm people. That is the ONLY reason you would do this. And this would literally destroy the concept of "herd immunity" by preventing the larger general population from participating.
What it looks like when a brainworm is running things.
So, should we continue paying federal taxes for nothing in return? I’m not paying for weekend golf trips. Not paying taxes makes you smarter, isn’t that what Donald says? Look, I’m predicting this stupid admin. will give a deficit like the world has never see before to the next D POTUS.
After Nov 5, I got my Covid booster bc I knew this was going to happen. Anyways, I paid for my vaccine. Do not understand why FDA is involved with that. Is it because they need to update the vaccine and don’t have the personnel?
remember when we were told covid would soon become like the flu, never really going away & having different annual variants, you would just get your covid shot with your flu shot to the point the two might someday be combined-is the flu shot also at risk, do repubs hate that one too?
That's an outstanding reply offering a insightful counter argument to what actually happened. But "snappy but inane comebacks" I guess are always a thing....
For the 1st time in my long life, I may benefit from being old, over 65. Also a cancer survivor, which I assume qualifies as a "pre-existing condition".
My son is 38. His work requires his being in close contact with several people, every day. He needs the vaccine. Long Covid is real & really bad.
What's annoying about this bullshit is that it's intentionally a vicious cycle. It's existence will be used as proof of the need for it to exist, justifying increased future "skepticism."
Every last change this administration has made has been designed to kill us. It's about culling and control. Anyone who says otherwise is flat-out lying.
This is proof that every single one of Trump/RFK Jr.'s picks have absolutely no idea what herd immunity means and will end up creating so many vaccine evading strains that we'll be in a second pandemic sooner rather than later.
"Intentional" as far as the fact they think they can control disease to only harm those they dislike. That's the thing about them though, they think they can put the [epidemic] djinn back in the bottle. mRNA vaccines are amazing, but not *that* amazing.
I think they believe their “superior genes” and/or wealth will protect them from disease. A world without so many they see as useless takers, disabled, and old people is what they envision.
There's definitely that. It's also that they think they can outsmart evolution, and especially that AI can now magic up a cure AND produce/distribute it faster than viral evolution occurs.
Of course, they don't understand the actual physical work necessary to get there.
62 will get you senior discounts at most places . . . 65 is the government authorized senior rate (Medicare), only not for Social Security . . .
none of it makes any sense.
F them. Purely political. I was in the original Pfizer COVID trial. They have progressively improved with fewer side effects. Now, I can't get a booster. Thanks for nithing.
"Forgot"? People didn't care about that WHILE it was actively happening! Remember them coopting "my body my choice"? So many motherfuckers who survived being on ventilators STILL refused to get vaccinated.
They are going everything they can to make America die just like Gaza. They want land. They don’t want democracy. This is from the Trail of Tears handbook. Starve them out, freeze them out, disease them out. Burn them out. Take everything left. The land. To put racists and only white criminals.
It seems perverse to claim that we don't know whether COVID vaccine boosters benefit persons younger than 65 on the pages of the same journal that published data showing that the benefits of boosters are not limited to older persons.
During covid the antivaxxers co-opted the saying. Knowing the origins of that saying, I was always a little stunned when people I knew to be far right on everything were suddenly posting that slogan on Facebook.
and then the Dobbs decision and looked really stupid saying that phrase which they never believed, and now they get rid of having a right to take a vaccine.
Glad to know that while I am no longer free to get a covid vaccine to protect myself at least now I can own a fully automatic machine gun so I can kill other people even faster than ever.
Has the airline industry weighed in? How many people will forgo holiday travel with their kids to avoid getting COVID? I can’t be the only one thinking about this.
Capital isn’t in control anymore. Tourism is cratering and it basically seems like the govt is telling the airline industry to piss off.
Which is the scariest part of all this. I always assumed profit was a pessimistic check on the worst of this country. But it’s not, which means no brakes on this!
What about the floating viral incubators, aka cruise ships? How people won't go knowing they could get stuck on an infected ship, and not allowed access to any ports due to contagious infection, possibly even cabin confinement?
What happened to "my body, my choice?" It's not just for women. If we want a vaccine, who (other than docs) has the right to dictate our choices. Thought gop was less govt.
This is the dangerous part of their plan. It’s not simply disagreeing with something someone else wants – they’re taking away the option to even choose.
So acknowledging they are safe and effective but just being assumes and limiting them because their base are anti science nutjobs. What a great country we live in.
The article:"..will LIMIT ACCESS to Covid-19 vaccines going forward to people 65 years of age and older and others who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill if they are infected." To me, that reads that it won't be available even for those who can afford to pay for it. Another scary death wish.
The commentary in the NEJM mentions that “For …those …between the ages of 6 months and 64 years, the FDA anticipates the need for randomized, controlled trial data evaluating clinical outcomes before Biologics License Applications can be granted. “
I interpret this as the vaccine not being approved for those under the target ages. Doctors can prescribe anything approved for any population off label, but not all will and insurance won’t cover
It’ll likely mean that you won’t be given a vaccine at all. I just went through this at Costco last month where they refused to give me a booster because it “was not recommended.” I said I’d pay out of pocket but was also rejected.
Horrifying. I'm honestly bewildered by TrumpCo's determination to make people sicker, decimate our scientific & medical research--the envy of the world--& put in place policies that will shutter hospitals, send brilliant students abroad, increase starvation & homelessness & reduce us to mediocrity.
Yes, I’m now very thankful that I acted on my “paranoia” (ie, knew what Kennedy was about and anticipated scarcity of most vaccines) and got boosted in Decemt for all of the childhood diseases. I also managed to get my Covid booster at Albertsons last month after Costco rejected me. Utter insanity.
Only those 65 years or older who also happen to be the current president in the United States can get the booster. Makes sense, seems like sound policy to me.
I live in elderly/disabled housing so a whole helluva lot of my neighbors are immunocompromised or otherwise in danger. And we share two elevators. This is super f'd up.
I'm glad I got mine recently with my flu vaccine. My doctor and ai had a very frank discussion about whether either vaccine would exist or be available in the future.
This is the approach that's widely used in most countries I expect. Certainly the case in Scotland. And there was no outcry but then vaccines aren't really a polarising political football here.
Have they even had the meeting yet to determine which strains of flu they think are going to be the ones we need protection from? Because if they haven't done that yet, the vaccines won't be ready on time.
That meeting held by us government officials, while important, is not the only meeting. Other countries as well as independent agencies conduct studies
If the FDA under RfK jr. don’t put out PSAs recommending flu and covid vaccines that has a huge effect here…with all the different and differing states. A lot of people don’t have access to a Dr., for a prescription.
Absolutely, I’m more just saying that the US not having this meeting won’t mean that the world’s supply of flu vaccine is impacted. Other countries will have the same meeting without us
Gonna hear a lot of people say this. Why are republicans so anxious to get the new borns here only to murder them once they arrive. No fluoride in water, no measles shots, no covid, no health care, no school lunches, etc etc! Where are the republicans going with all this; TO MARS????
So even more restrictive than flu vaccines?! In addition to Doctors, how can health insurance providers go along with this, when getting COVID increases the probability of expensive treatments and possibly even more expensive long-term side effects?! Can we sue the FDA for spreading misinformation?
Comments
I get vaccinations by walking to the (not yet closed) Rite-Aid blocks away and asking for them, not by figuring out how I can possibly talk to a doctor and get a prescription.
I suppose if they really want us to die horrible deaths, we'll need a dr. appt for a tetanus booster.
"Nearly three-quarters of Americans age 6 months and older have an underlying medical condition that puts them at higher risk, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/20/health/covid-vaccine-fda-changes
These shots are not that expensive but watch the FDA make them that way.
long covid took him out for over two years..still not normal
The operative word is not choice. The operative word is racism.
Even taking a so-called "biologic" for something like psoriasis depresses immune response...
I doubt they'd add more verification work for employees if not forced to by insurance or government.
It's that "if not forced to" part we don't yet have clarity on...
But the current status is not that bad, in my experience.
https://www.youtube.com/@americanmedicalassociation
I wouldn't be able to safely work and would be forced to quit. I'd also lose my health insurance.
Trump's budget bill will make my ACA plan unaffordable.
He hates Americans.
What if you work or live in congregate housing?
What if you, for some weird reason, just don’t want to get sick?
🤪
they just wanted exclusivity.
Sociopaths.
I had perfected my over-the-mask “you bout to get something you really don’t want” stare, looks like time to get back in practice
I wish I was religious and believed in hell, so I could at least know all of these people would be tortured for eternity.
Oh, wait…
1. What are medicolegal implications?
2. What are payment implications?
Most reporting I have read on this is confused on those two questions.
https://newrepublic.com/article/183971/jd-vance-weird-terrifying-techno-authoritarian-ideas
So many Americans died from Covid, it’s boosting Social Security to the tune of $205 billion
*very loose definition of fittest
Once before the vaccine was available the second time after several boosters.
The illness was nightmare and day difference.
Do not take our vaccine away! 💉
What is surprising is the number of us that want us to die as well 🤷
My neighbor is a doctor that could give 2 shits, and always goes along. He also believes both political parties are the same!
These coddled fuckers are not always the brightest.
Because skeptic implies diligence and attention to detail
RFK Jr and Trump have no feel for our freedoms or safety
Freedom and safety are the highest ground in our politics
["always has been" meme with 4 emojis]
Can you believe this shit?
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2802699
Fiction writers from 30 years ago had bestsellers on this type of warfare.
Replace vaccines with fire safety. Everyone realizes that burning down a building to avoid some minor inconvenience makes you an ass
After 10 COVID infections, one's chance of having Long COVID are 93%. The spot on, that same projection said after 2 infections 25% 3 infections 37%...those were exactly what shook out.
I definitely noticed memory issues, and started struggling to stay awake, and when I did a sleep study my oxygen levels got down to 73%
Now daily steroids, CPAP, and supplemental oxygen
was nonplussed at having to wait a few weeks behind the 65+ folks but the reasons seemed fair enough
These limitations don't seem sensible at all
Trump + RFK Jr aren't champions of free choice
fwiw I say annual vax not boosters
But the reasons I had to wait were understandable then
It’s madness.
Modern medical science knows how to control for other factors — like other infections.
And you're absolutely correct -- the anti-mandate crowd demanded the freedom to choose; RFK Jr and his Minions of Malice want to stop vaccines, based on warped notions and bizarre schemes.
vaccine hurdles like this one will kill people
37% had symptoms lasting over 4 weeks
Over half paused training for 4–8 weeks
At 4 months post-infection:
40% still reported reduced performance
64% had ongoing limitations in sports participation
and these are athletes.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12662-025-01024-1?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR4_Ib2LP4V90yEkEepAxGJoT_ZmZ1WblBMZjD5gpDEugtcVd8GfwI8SoS_Rvg_aem_0KsSa_lf8_oiXwgoVQ7R7w
I am so angry and scared.
vaccines are miracles, but some of them—including current covid vaccines—don’t prevent all transmission and infection, and should be part of a multilayered strategy.
please mask up, folks.
1) High Blood Pressure (even if controlled)
2) Diabetes
3) Elevated Cholesterol
4) Elevated BMI (which is most people in the US)
Use anything you got.
Psychopaths
The Hippocratic Oath is a fantasy.
“Prescribing the shots in healthy people under 65 would be considered off-label use, making it less likely that insurers would broadly cover the shots.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/17/health/fda-novavax-covid-vaccine.html?
I suspect doctors will simply use the booster off-label. The problem is that insurance may not pay for off-label usage.
Ridiculous? Sure, but no more ridiculous than the absolute JUNK SCIENCE THESE FUCKERS ARE PUSHING.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsb2506929
My own condition isn't on the list either, because it doesn't increase my risk. I want it for economic reasons and to protect others.
I’m going to have to tell my primary care doctor that I’ve become a smoker at age 61. It’s not entirely untrue – since January I’ve become fond of my vape and use it regularly, just not for tobacco.
My mom was big on honesty, yet I think she’ll smile down if I do whatever I need to get the vax.
(No need for condolences. Mom was 90 and I was so lucky to be her daughter!)
Having a static fuzz brain was the absolute worst experience.
It was so weird to struggle to find words for the first time in my life, but whenever I reached for them they simply weren’t there.
To that I say, "Let a thousand Luigis bloom."
A huge chunk of the country has one or more of those .
None of the unqualified anti-science people in the Trump regime should be making health decisions for our citizens.
They are evil first, this administration isn't just stupidly flailing about and these things happen
They want it to happen. They want people to die. That isn't stupidity that's a purely evil calculated decision
My fury at the moment is incandescent.
Wearing a well fitting N95 or better prevents infection & spread. Air purifiers with HEPA remove SARS-2 from the air.
Not to mention, you know, family members who visit.
Hopefully more will come out
If you admit that people under 65 need the vaccine, then you’re wrong.
it starts with covid, soon other things
ChristoFascists vs Science
imagine this country 100 weeks from now
(which is only halfway)
and then most people still don't realize who is actually running the country right now
it's not even #PresidentMusk
but rather Russell Vought and his scheme for destruction
What are you freaking out about - that its merely not recommended anymore?
The FDA has not broadly restricted COVID-19 vaccines but has shifted its approach to recommending them, focusing on high-risk groups rather than universal recommendations. As of May 2025, the FDA announced it will no longer recommend yearly COVID-19 vaccines for most Americans.
The issue is that the poor are going be the ones that get screwed. Again.
This probable future limitation will apply ONLY to the new novavax.
But they do like working people up.
https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FDA-2025-N-1146-0001
So China definitely engineered a non-existent virus as a bioweapon and also made it only affect already high risk people. Sure, that makes sense
The U.S. has 345 million people.
I don’t think Canada will have enough vaccines for us, too.
The tariffs were mostly a shakedown and extortion racket for Trump. CEO’s buy his crypto. Get a letting. Ta da. Magic Tariff carve out!
My doctor's office has told me in the past just to go to the nearest pharmacy for my flu and covid shots, but if they're going to be restricted like this...
Not failed, betrayed.
They handed public health to a fame-hungry sociopath,
sold the future for favour, and told the vulnerable to fend for themselves.
This isn’t just regulatory collapse.
It’s collusion with necropolitics.
You organize, you resist, you dismantle the rot at every level.
Let it be known:
When the state sanctions death by cowardice,
revolution becomes moral hygiene.
This is some next-level stupidity stuff.
Me after: "Maybe this 17th century French sociologist was onto something!"
Each infection causes more harm, even if people don’t notice it yet.
So we’re already on a bad path. Limiting access to vaccines, plus cutting funding for Accord development, will speed up the health crisis.
Let them know how you feel about taking away our vaccine.
https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FDA-2025-N-1146-0001
I'm a big strong AMERICAN and spend several days a year unable to breathe normally for FREEDOM
The white supremacy eugenics numbers game: "It will kill more POC than whites, so let's do it."
The virus needs that kind of environment to develop their counter offensive.
Virus are like people too, they love a challenge, and will bank on your incompetence.
What happened to the "Don't Tread on Me Crowd?"
Fucking hypocrites!!
Obvious & Diabolical.
https://bsky.app/profile/covid19disease.bsky.social/post/3lpjqb3a6ys2q
1/
2/2
No one?
Yeah, me either.
And teachers?
It’s not science, it’s biased opinion polling
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsb2506929
https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FDA-2025-N-1146-0001
What it looks like when a brainworm is running things.
My son is 38. His work requires his being in close contact with several people, every day. He needs the vaccine. Long Covid is real & really bad.
Get ready to mask up again everyone.
And now imagine this for measles...
Of course, they don't understand the actual physical work necessary to get there.
none of it makes any sense.
https://www.reuters.com/article/world/pandemic-hit-arizona-texas-counties-order-coolers-refrigerated-trucks-for-bodi-idUSKCN24H3HJ/
https://bsky.app/profile/helenbranswell.bsky.social/post/3lpjmqlk6wc2g
https://www.panaccindex.info/p/profile-tracy-beth-heg-special-assistant @panaccindex.bsky.social
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2115926
So "my body, my choice" was just another thing these people said, but don't actually believe.
Just like everything else they "believe" in.
The right's counter was "your body, my choice" which is very in line with their beliefs and policies
‘Merica amirite?
Which is the scariest part of all this. I always assumed profit was a pessimistic check on the worst of this country. But it’s not, which means no brakes on this!