FDA will limit Covid vaccines to people over 65 or at high risk of serious illness, leaders say

[swag]

Source: STAT

By Helen Branswell, Matthew Herper, and Lizzy LawrenceMay 20, 2025

The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it 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, and will require manufacturers to conduct clinical trials to show whether the vaccines are of benefit to healthy younger adults and children.

After weeks of signaling a shift in thinking, the new leaders of the FDA and the agency’s division that regulates vaccines published a commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine laying out their plan for future use of Covid vaccines.

Read more: https://www.statnews.com/2025/05/20/fda-vaccine-framework-new-covid-shot-recommendations-vinay-prasad-marty-makary/

[orangecrush]

1. JFC

They want us dead.

[Wingus Dingus]

2. Holy shit. The REAL death panels have arrived.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. RFK and trump are assholes

[Mysterian]

4. Our government wants to murder us

Thanks, republican voters.

[elocs]

18. Oh, you need to thank all those who voted for Biden but not for Harris.

They deserve blame as well, maybe more because one would expect Republicans to vote for Trump.

[3auld6phart]

45. Damn

Good point,apparently she’ll ova lot of So called Dems. Stayed home and couldn’t be bothered too bvote..Harris and Tim Alzwould have been a great team.

[elocs]

51. Also, too many Democrats were complacent & overconfident that nobody could steal an election

from us, that only stupid morons like the magas would believe in stolen elections, that we were too smart to have anything like that happen to us.

[nitpicked]

5. Link to AP

https://apnews.com/article/vaccines-fda-kennedy-covid-shots-rfk-trump-bb4de15b6ff955d6cd0b406aaec3cdc5

[Bayard]

6. We don't need senior citizens or handicapped people....

They're just a drain on Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. Government efficiency at your service.

[h2ebits]

39. IMO The AP article that was posted actually makes the information more understandable.

Here's the article that was posted by a fellow DUer:
https://apnews.com/article/vaccines-fda-kennedy-covid-shots-rfk-trump-bb4de15b6ff955d6cd0b406aaec3cdc5

[SunSeeker]

43. Raises more questions than answers.

From that AP link:

“Is the pharmacist going to determine if you’re in a high-risk group?” asked Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “The only thing that can come of this will make vaccines less insurable and less available.”

[ShazzieB]

47. But they're saying the vaccine would still be available to people over 65.

They want to deny access to the vaccine to everyone except "people 65 years of age and older and others who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill if they are infected."

If they specifically wanted to kill all the old, sick, and disabled people, I don't think it would make much sense to cut off vaccine access to everyone except those groups. This is horrific no matter how you slice it, and any possibility of herd immunity would go right out the window, but it doesn't feel like a targeted attack on the old and other vulnerable groups to me.

I suspect this is related to RFK Jr's disdain for giving vaccines to kids. It fits right in with his obsession with the idea that kids get too many vaccines in childhood. This is what happens when a conspiracy theory addled idiot is put in charge of the nation's heath!

[dweller]

7. The Pisswig wants to break his own record

Of US deaths from Covid
😐



✌🏻

[deurbano]

8. What about health care providers? They can't get it, either? My daughter has been required to get a vaccine every fall

for her doctoral program in occupational therapy, and there are other types of health care providers more closely interacting with much more vulnerable populations than she has been.

[MLWR]

9. It seems to me that they would come under the heading of "at high risk of serious illness."

[JT45242]

30. They will find a way to say "It wouldn't be serious"... if you kill off or get more health workers to quit even better

Get people in serious medical debt then make it not dischargable in bankruptcy so that they will have to work slave wages at multiple jobs forever to pay back the vulture capitalists who have been buying virtually every medical center that the catholic church did not in their effor to end ALL reproductive care -- not just abortions, tubal ligations, vasectomy, birth control.

There is a big plan to make a bunch of perpetually poor people who will work until they die.

[Alice B.]

10. As a caregiver to a vulnerable, aging parent ... I think I'm in a similar boat? IIRC, it actually moved me up the list

... for my first Covid shots.

[deurbano]

20. That was my situation, too! I was prioritized as a caregiver for my disabled adult daughter.

But who knows with these loons?! They think the vaccine is the real threat.

[Alice B.]

26. I may be somewhat slow but am I overlooking when this takes effect?

[deurbano]

49. I'm not seeing it either. One thing I did see is that non-seniors with certain underlying conditions (a very expansive

list) can still get the shot. And some of these conditions (physically inactive?!) would really rely on self-reporting, so anyone who wants a booster should just say they are inactive.. or depressed... or whatever qualifies. Maybe it needs to be a more documented condition for insurance coverage, though?

https://www.cdc.gov/covid/hcp/clinical-care/underlying-conditions.html

[Alice B.]

60. Good idea -- thank you!!!

[angrychair]

11. This is bullshit

They've already done studies. Plus we have given billions of shots at this point. They have no right to do this. They are screwing us and attacking our health. FUCK THEM!!

[cab67]

12. Who the f-word gets to decide who's at risk?

I'm a lifelong chronic asthmatic. I keep it more or less under control, but because I can't use the steroid inhalers (e.g. Qvar), I'm reliant on rescue medication (e.g. albuterol). This means I still get attacks. But I'm still in my 50's.

Would I qualify as "at risk?" I've had plenty of upper respiratory infections (though not COVID yet), and only one required a trip to the ER. But if you've ever had an asthma attack, you know how lethal it can feel.


(Nothing to do with anything, but - I once used an asthma attack as a passive form of suicide. The worst attacks I ever had were during my adolescence. During one particular attack - freshman year of high school, I think - I decided I was done being bullied and refused to let my parents take me to the hospital. If I died, I thought, I died. I don't think they ever figured out what I was trying to accomplish. That was a very long time ago, and I'm in no danger of ever trying that again - but I wonder if those who treat asthma encounter others who've tried this.)

[IronLionZion]

17. "asthma, diabetes, cancer and obesity, in addition to pregnant women"

as a fellow asthmatic, we should qualify to get the shot.

[elocs]

25. If obesity qualifies, 40% of adults are obese, 20% of the children. I qualify because I am old. n/t

[cab67]

29. evidently -

"I don't want to get sick" doesn't appear to be a risk factor.

[cab67]

27. and my 9-year old daughter?

Last edited Tue May 20, 2025, 02:14 PM - Edit history (1)

The one who isn't asthmatic?

Or my wife, who's slightly younger than me but also not asthmatic?

It's well and good if I get vaccinated, but COVID vaccines (like the influenza vaccine) are not as effective at stopping disease as other vaccines. My survivability goes way up if I'm vaccinated, but I'd rather not get it at all, and that's best assured if the rest of my family is vaccinated as well.

The whole concept of "herd immunity" seems to mean nothing to those in charge of immunizations.

[IronLionZion]

35. It's pretty shitty of them to deny vaccines to those who want it

after bloviating about freedom and choice for the past 5 years.

[tanyev]

58. Exactly. What happened to "people need to be free to decide for themselves?"

GD liars.

[deurbano]

36. That just reminded me that there is a new combo vaccine for flu and COVID that is supposed to

Last edited Tue May 20, 2025, 03:38 PM - Edit history (1)

be better at preventing both diseases than the stand alone versions.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/modernas-combo-covid-flu-mrna-shot-outperforms-current-vaccines-large-rcna205242

Of course, who knows if the current pathetic version of the FDA will ever approve it?

[SunSeeker]

48. I'm really looking forward to that combo one. Fuckwads better approve it!

[deurbano]

31. We just got new boosters (6 months after the last ones) because we will be traveling. My husband and I are over 65, so

no problem...but usually my adult disabled daughter (she is attending meetings in cities on both coasts, and we will be traveling as her caregivers) fills out her vaccine info online....but this time her dad did it in-person it (as we waited at the pharmacy), and didn't mark her as immunocompromised (which our daughter would have done if filling it out herself), so the pharmacist kind of prompted her to self-declare. She isn't officially in that category, but has had cancer (spending 5 months in the hospital for treatment), and is quadriplegic, and her primary care provider and hematologist both consider her vulnerable. She did get COVID once (as a delegate to the Dem convention in Chicago!), and took Paxlovid, which helped right away with no rebound, but we hope to avoid another infection, of course. I'm still a NOVID, but my husband and younger daughter have had it, too. My son has never tested positive, but as a very active and about 26-year-old, I think he may just be in the asymptomatic category.

So... I hope people will still be able to self-declare vulnerability, and not have to "prove" it?

I'm glad you are past your suicidal tendencies. High school was rough for me, too, but it was more about family life. (Getting away from my parents made a huge difference in my desire to keep living.)

[C Moon]

13. "...oh, and billionaires and their families of any age."

[groundloop]

14. I expect this decision could be reversed after a large enough 'campaign contribution'

[Botany]

15. This will kill people.

Last edited Tue May 20, 2025, 02:14 PM - Edit history (1)

Millions of new hosts for C-19 where the virus can grow, maybe be asymptomatic, and
mutate into a new strain of the disease. Since when did being a republican or Christian
Right Wing Evangelical or a Fox News commentator give you knowledge about medicine,
virology, epidemiology, or evolutionary biology?

This is madness.

[progree]

16. For non-high risk groups, what does this precisely exactly mean? That it will be illegal for a healthcare provider (

clinic, Walgreens pharmacy) to give the shot? Will it make it illegal for government-funded insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, ACA) to reimburse people for the cost of the shot? What about private insurance like employer insurance? Again, all this is for so-called non-high-risk groups.

(As for Medicare, age 65-and over are high risk according to this, but Medicare also provides insurance for many disabled people younger than 65).

Suppose as a healthy non-high-risk person, I want the shot
(a) to have a milder infection if I do get Covid, and
(b) so that I will be less likely to spread Covid to others? That I will be less likely to host the next mutation?

Will the advisory panel also recommend punishment for violaters? El Salvador?

[LudwigPastorius]

19. Welp, it's been nice knowing you folks.

Fuck Trump. Fuck Bob Kennedy. And, Fuck his brainworm too.

It is beyond idiotic that I can get a flu shot, and a RSV shot, but not a COVID shot.

[ToxMarz]

21. They are so full of shit, they sceam and yell about their freedumbs and gubbmint mandates

But how does it make sense to limit availability. Don't mandate it, don't pay for it. But why couldn't someone willing to pay for it choose to get it, and insurance companies can make their own cost/benefit analysis to decide whether to cover it. Because it's not about any of that, it's about knee jerk opposition AND forcing their views on everyone else. That is the only way they feel like they won, freedom (like everything else to them) is a zero sum game.

[FailureToCommunicate]

22. Oh well. So long, it's been good to know ya...

?si=WOxpVniTAWKzjT64

[Javaman]

23. this years winter will be bad nt

[EnergizedLib]

24. I've gotten my shot every year

Thanks a lot, doofuses.

[poli-junkie]

28. There's going to be vaccine tourism to Canada.

Or to Mexico.

[crimycarny]

32. What about Long COVID? What about newer more deadly strains?

This is nuts. My co-worker's healthy, long-distance runner spouse, in her early 40s, couldn't even stand up to take a shower MONTHS after she survived a bout with COVID (pre-vaccine).

My 50-ish (Trumper) neighbor had to be airlifted to a hospital that had an ECMO machine. He and his wife would hold backyard parties to prove what a "nothing burger" COVID was and how all the "libs" were behaving hysterically. Then they both got sick, and the husband almost died.

Finally, a very good friend of mine, healthy and in her 40s, died from COVID. Tragically, this was after the COVID-19 vaccine was available. She was not anti-vax, but she was scared of the COVID-19 vaccine due to all the misinformation. Her entire family received the COVID-19 vaccine (husband and 3 kids), and they were trying to help her overcome her fears and get vaccinated. Then she contracted COVID and went downhill so fast it was scary. Last text with her was when she was in the ICU, "I'm fine, they are just trying to get this cough under control". She died the next day.

None of the 3 examples above would qualify for a COVID vaccine under the new FDA rules.

Let's hope they don't remove access to PAXLOVID.

[BoRaGard]

33. Rationing - G.O.P. style

[IronLionZion]

37. GOP are the real big government authoritarians

and we're not even in a war or depression (yet). There's no reason for rationing other than spite.

[Paladin]

34. Fuck this shit. (nt)

[littlemissmartypants]

38. So much for herd immunity.

[womanofthehills]

62. I don't think you can get herd immunity with a virus that keeps mutating

Supposedly it’s mutated to less severe strains for now.. I only know of one person who has gotten the virus in the past few months and he is currently on chemo.

[littlemissmartypants]

63. You certainly can't get it without vaccines. I think we're talking about two different types of herd immunity anyway. ❤️

[Katinfl]

40. What is the reasoning (?) behind this?

I may have missed something…….is it the cost involved? The whole thing is rediculous.

[womanofthehills]

61. Yale News - " Yale study reveals insights into post-vaccine heart inflammation cases"

Yale News (young males)

“When new COVID-19 vaccines were first administered two years ago, public health officials found an increase in cases of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, particularly among young males who had been vaccinated with mRNA vaccines. It was unclear, however, what exactly was causing this reaction.”



In a new study, Yale scientists have identified the immune signature of these heart inflammation cases.

https://news.yale.edu/2023/05/05/yale-study-reveals-insights-post-vaccine-heart-inflammation-cases

[Blue Full Moon]

41. This sounds like the requirements

For that new covid vaccine.

[flashman13]

42. OK I'm over 65 so I can get a vaccine. Will I be able to afford it.

Up until now the feds have provided all of the Covid vaccines at no cost. I expect that to change. Will Medicare/Medicaid cover it? If not, will my supplementary insurance cover it? If not, what is it going to cost out of pocket.

As they say, the devil is in the details.

[riversedge]

44. Why have a Covid vaccine if not available to all is my question.

[flashman13]

55. Good question. Maybe RFK could tell us.

[Picaro]

46. Thus ensuring that we can't achieve herd immunity

RFK Junior and his titular boss are complete idiots.

Remember, this is a man who may still have a worm in his brain. Decided that being a heroin addict was a good path to academic success. Just swam in a creek with children near the capital that has been off-limits to swimming for at least 50 years. The water is contaminated with very high amounts of all kinds of nasty bacteria.

This is the kind of person that Trump hires. He’s not looking for competence, but blind loyalty. While he may be getting the loyalty from some of his minions I don’t think he’s getting that from RFK Junior.

This is what you get when you have a president taking his marching orders from an vowed enemy of the United States, Vladimir Putin.

[usonian]

50. Means two things to me. First, we need a STUPID VACCINE, Second, there will be a black market in vaccines.

Border check for band-aids?

Inquiring minds want to know
les esprits curieux veulent savoir
Las mentes inquisitivas quieren saber

[greatauntoftriplets]

52. As someone who is over 65 and immunocompromised, I guess I'm still eligible.

Am I supposed to feel grateful that I can still get the vaccine when family and some friends cannot? They're playing with people's lives.

[bromeando]

53. Vaccine

The Admin wants to limit vaccine help to seniors so they'll die off.

[JohnSJ]

54. Because of course if you are under 65 with Covid, you have nothing to worry about, and if you are

under 65 with Covid, and meet someone 65 or older, please make it trump and his rethugs.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

56. It could be nearly impossible for Pfizer or Moderna to complete new trials in time for the fall season.

I know that the first round of covid testing was done in placebo control trials because my oldest child was in the Pfzier trial. Luckily my oldest got the vaccine in this trial. The new rules will make it very difficult to get updated for next fall

A new FDA mandate on Covid boosters means it could be nearly impossible for Pfizer or Moderna to complete new trials in time for the fall season.

— NBC News (@nbcnews.com) 2025-05-20T15:15:10Z

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/covid-vaccines-fda-trials-delay-kids-adults-fall-rcna207718

Makary and Prasad said in a question and answer session later Tuesday that annual shots for healthy children and adults would no longer be routinely approved. They also suggested that the vaccines may not be updated each year.....

In briefing documents published earlier Tuesday, FDA staff wrote that updating the vaccines to more closely match currently circulating strains may “provide added benefit” in anticipation of an uptick in cases during the fall and winter.

The change means it will be near impossible for Pfizer and Moderna to complete the new trials in time for the fall season. Aside from running the trials, the drugmakers will still need to design the trials and enroll participants, which can also take several weeks or months.

The data would then need to be analyzed and signed off by the FDA.

I am over 65 and I am clearly high risk with COPD. I am worried that there will be no updated vaccine for any new variations this fall.

[Karasu]

57. One of the most compelling reasons to leave the country. Fuck this shit. The precedent it creates is beyond disturbing.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

59. He wants to kill more Americans

Sick asshole.