COVID vaccines are expected to be more costly and difficult to obtain for tens of millions of Americans this fall, says reports from Bloomberg and The New York Times.
With vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leading the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration narrowed its approvals for COVID vaccines this week, which will reportedly force many to pay $225 for their next jab.
That’s because the FDA’s narrowing of approval—to only those aged 65 and older or those with qualifying conditions—will lead to the CDC following suit, meaning health plans that follow federal recommendations will no longer have to cover vaccine costs.
The result: Americans who want to protect themselves from COVID this fall, when infections from respiratory viruses typically increase, will have to pay out of pocket unless their insurance companies decide to cover the cost, reports Bloomberg.
The site reported that Moderna and Pfizer vaccines cost $225 at CVS, and that Sanofi SA, another vaccine manufacturer, plans to charge around the same amount.
The Times reports that people in some states, such as Massachusetts, will not be permitted to receive the vaccine without a prescription—a stark reversal from years past, when it was inexpensive and almost universally accessible in the United States.
New barriers to the COVID vaccine come at a time when the cases of the virus are spiking across America. A CDC spokesperson told Axios on Wednesday, “COVID-19 activity is increasing in most areas of the country.”
HHS did not return a request for comment.
Kennedy, as an independent presidential candidate last year, promised to overhaul vaccine policy if he won. He did not earn a spot in the Oval Office, but he was gifted the next-best position to achieve his goal as part of the Trump administration.
The 71-year-old has so far delivered on this promise, with rumors of further restrictions—and perhaps an outright ban—on COVID immunizations in the works.
Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist who has long claimed COVID vaccines are more dangerous than the virus, told the Daily Beast that Kennedy, with the blessing of President Donald Trump, will pull COVID jabs off the market “within months.” He is a leading adviser to the lobby group Make America Healthy Again Action and is a close associate of Kennedy.
Malhotra told the Beast that the stance of banning the COVID vaccine is shared by “influential” members of the Trump family. Like Kennedy, none of Trump’s children or their spouses possess any scientific qualifications.
The effects of Kennedy’s changes are already taking effect. A CVS spokesperson told the Times on Thursday that the COVID vaccine is not available at pharmacies in 16 states due to “the current regulatory environment.” By Friday, it said that the vaccine is unavailable in just three states—Massachusetts, Nevada, and New Mexico—despite its online booking program blocking appointments for all of the original 16.
It appears that this is all part of Kennedy’s plan.
“These vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors,” Kennedy said in a statement this week, ignoring the additional hoops Americans must jump through to obtain the vaccine. “The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense. This framework delivers all three.”
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