Georgia residents may face an uphill battle accessing COVID-19 vaccines this fall, as federal agencies consider sweeping changes to eligibility requirements for immunizations. The process of updating vaccine guidelines — which for many years has been a matter of routine — is now increasingly uncertain amid shifting federal guidance on public health policies. And in […]
Last week, Georgia’s Department of Public Health announced that it will be halting distribution of the newest version of the COVID-19 vaccine until after the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices issues its annual recommendations. Javier Zayas Photography/Getty Images
Georgia residents may face an uphill battle accessing COVID-19 vaccines this fall, as federal agencies consider sweeping changes to eligibility requirements for immunizations.
The process of updating vaccine guidelines — which for many years has been a matter of routine — is now increasingly uncertain amid shifting federal guidance on public health policies. And in the absence of a federal consensus, states are beginning to develop their own vaccine policies. Northeast and western states are forming new vaccine coalitions to provide access to residents who might not qualify under potential future Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, while Florida has announced plans to eliminate vaccine mandates altogether.
But Georgia, which is home to the Atlanta-based CDC, has held off on administering updated state guidelines — at least for now. Last week, the state’s Department of Public Health announced that it will be halting distribution of the newest version of the COVID-19 vaccine until after the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices issues its annual recommendations. The panel is scheduled to meet in Atlanta from Sept. 18-19.
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Established in 1964, ACIP is charged with setting national guidelines around which people should be vaccinated against a plethora of preventable diseases and when those vaccines should be administered. The recommendations also play a key role in determining which vaccines insurance companies are willing to cover and how accessible immunizations are for the public to access. Georgia is also one of a handful of states that have codified the committee’s recommendations into law, giving the panel’s decisions more weight than it has in some neighboring states.
In August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is tasked with overseeing vaccine development, approved a new round of COVID-19 vaccines aimed at providing immunity against the JN.1 variant. However, the new recommendations limited eligibility for the updated shots to only those who are 65 or older, as well as younger people with certain health problems. Previous booster shots had been recommended for everyone six months of age and older.
Part of the reason patients may have trouble accessing vaccines, advocates say, is because health care providers are uncertain about how to interpret new state and federal guidelines, and don’t want to risk violating the law.
“Usually, all of these groups and all of these people are in lockstep,” said Scott Thorpe, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Public Health Leadership. “They’re obviously not in lockstep right now, and so that’s part of why this process is breaking down, and it creates a lot of uncertainty for everybody.”
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If the CDC’s panel votes in favor of similar restrictions, Georgia residents who do not fit the eligibility criteria may be required to get a prescription before they can be given a COVID-19 booster shot, and pay for the full cost out of pocket. Georgia’s public health department said the out-of-pocket cost for last year’s vaccine was around $180.
Members of Georgia’s Board of Public Health, some of whom are former CDC employees, expressed skepticism about the upcoming ACIP recommendations at Tuesday’s board meeting. Board Chair Dr. James Curran, who previously spent more than two decades working at the CDC, criticized the “turmoil and huge morale problems” the agency has been facing in the wake of a deadly shooting and recent turnover of top officials.
“As far as I can tell, a major goal is to diminish the CDC role in vaccines in a lot of ways,” Curran told the board.
“What we can expect is very controversial guidance which will focus on vaccine injuries more than on vaccine expansion,” he added.
Georgia Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey stressed that the department is still “very committed to immunizations,” and said she has been in contact with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp as the department considers next steps. A Kemp spokesperson did not respond to questions about the governor’s stance on COVID-19 vaccine access.
“We are waiting to see the CDC/ACIP guidelines,” Toomey said, adding that the federal guidelines will also impact insurance and liability coverage for vaccines. “If it is really out of line with what we feel is appropriate, given the science and epidemiologic trends as we know it, we can make decisions then.”
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