Toronto Star
· collected 2026-09-25 · by Mike Stobbe The Associated Press
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new flu vaccine that tested well in older adults.
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that → approve → adults
But the federal agency responsible for telling doctors and the general public how to use it has made no recommendation on it.
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agency → tell → it
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s inaction on the mFlusiva vaccine marks a break in longstanding practice.
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inaction → mark → practice
It’s also an example of how the agency’s vaccine review-and-recommendation process has been blown up in the past year, grinding decision-making to a halt.
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process → ’ → halt
Efforts by vaccine-wary officials in President Donald Trump’s administration to scale back shot recommendations have been put on hold.
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Efforts → scale → hold
Federal guidance on new vaccines has stopped.
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guidance → stop → vaccines
And public discussion of vaccine policy questions that might cross political divides — including whether there’s solid evidence to justify giving fewer shots to kids — has diminished.
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that → cross → kids
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s crusade to upend vaccine policy and the legal action opposing it have disrupted longstanding systems that deliver crucial health guidance to Americans, affecting whether people are getting the best available protection against vaccine-preventable diseases.
“We find ourselves at a point where even if credible evidence (for a new vaccine policy) has reached a tipping point, we don’t have an obvious mechanism that can formalize that change,” said Jason Schwartz, a Yale University health policy researcher who studies government health agencies.
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who → upend → agencies
Many in the medical field praised a court ruling that halted Kennedy’s changes
For 60 years, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices guided the CDC’s vaccine recommendations.
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Committee → praise → recommendations
The committee met publicly, reviewed vaccine data and sought input from various health groups.
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committee → meet → groups
The panel voted on recommendations that went to the CDC director, who almost always adopted them as the government’s guidance, leading public and private insurers to pay for the shots.
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who → vote → shots
Trump, a Republican, appointed Kennedy to oversee federal health agencies, including the CDC.
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Trump → appoint → CDC
Kennedy last year dismissed the committee and replaced it with a group that included several anti-vaccine voices.
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that → dismiss → voices
Controversial decisions followed, leading to a lawsuit from the American Academy of Pediatrics and some other medical groups.
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decisions → follow → Pediatrics
In March, a federal judge said Kennedy likely violated federal procedures, stopped Kennedy’s panel from holding further meetings and suspended Kennedy’s decision to reduce the number of vaccines recommended for children.
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Kennedy → say → children
Many in the medical and public health communities celebrated the decision and took the order as a respite from what they saw as the Trump administration’s assault on vaccines.
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they → celebrate → vaccines
Dr. Jason Goldman, president of the American College of Physicians, said he hoped “it will mean a return to a transparent and evidence-driven process that safeguards the health of all communities and the best interests of our patients.”
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that → say → patients
In reality, the process stalled and splintered
With Kennedy’s committee shut down by the court order, doctors’ groups that used to collaborate with the ACIP have gone their own way.
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that → stall → ACIP
Working with a University of Minnesota researcher, they have debated — not publicly — the kind of medical evidence formerly presented at ACIP meetings and issued their own recommendations.
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they → work → recommendations
The trade association for private health insurers decided to heed the medical societies’ choices, and the insurers have continued to pay for shots recommended by those organizations.
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insurers → decide → organizations
Many of the groups’ recommendations match prior ones made by ACIP and the CDC before Kennedy’s arrival.
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Many → match → arrival
But they also made their own updates.
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they → make → updates
For example, ACIP previously recommended that a new shot be given to women late in pregnancy: a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which can be dangerous to newborns.
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which → recommend → newborns
The government panel recommended that the vaccine be given between September and January in most of the U.S., to coincide with the time of year when RSV infections are most common.
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infections → recommend → year
But RSV season sometimes remains active longer.
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season → remain → ?
For that reason, the medical groups recently said the shot should be offered to those women through the beginning of March.
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shot → say → March
“We all recognized this needs to evolve,” Chris Regal, director of clinical innovation at America’s Health Insurance Plans, the health insurance trade association, said in a recent webinar.
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Regal → recognize → webinar
The official CDC guidance remains unchanged.
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guidance → remain → ?
Unanswered vaccine issues are piling up
The mFlusiva flu shot is another example of the unusual way vaccine policy updates have stalled.
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updates → pile → way
The shot is the first flu vaccine made with the mRNA technology that was key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
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that → make → pandemic
Kennedy has criticized mRNA vaccines and last year canceled contracts for the development of new ones.
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Kennedy → criticize → ones
The shots also took a tortuous path through the FDA, which finally granted full approval in people ages 50 to 64.
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which → take → people
But the CDC this month quietly posted that it has decided to maintain its flu vaccine endorsements from last year due to “legal uncertainties and inquiries.”
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it → post → uncertainties
That means mFlusiva is not among the listed flu vaccines recommended to the public this fall.
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mFlusiva → mean → public
The medical societies are recommending it as an option, however.
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societies → recommend → option
Another ACIP function was to vote on whether certain vaccines should be covered by Vaccines for Children, a government program that pays for shots for children who have no health insurance.
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who → vote → insurance
The FDA approved updated COVID-19 vaccines, but as the summer dragged on — and fall vaccination campaigns got underway — the government would not say if the VFC program will pay for those shots.
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program → approve → shots
It was only this week that officials confirmed orders could be placed through that program.
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orders → confirm → program
HPV vaccine reassessment is derailed
Another question concerns the HPV vaccine, given to preteens to prevent certain cancers.
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question → derail → cancers
Two HPV shots are recommended, but some recent research has suggested that perhaps one shot could be enough — at least for girls.
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shot → recommend → girls
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
