Top U.S. doctors offer updated flu and COVID vaccine recommendations, aiming to ease confusion

Major U.S. medical organizations are stepping in with updated flu and COVID-19 vaccine advice as federal guidance remains unsettled. The groups say they want to reduce confusion caused by changing recommendations from the Trump administration.

The Food and Drug Administration approved updated flu and COVID-19 vaccines last week. Flu vaccinations are beginning, and new COVID-19 doses are arriving. Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, also poses a vaccine-preventable risk during winter.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Infectious Diseases Society of America each published guidance for their patient groups. “There’s been a lot of confusion and chaos regarding vaccine recommendations,” said Dr. Sandra Fryhofer of the American Medical Association.

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There’s been a lot of confusion and chaos regarding vaccine recommendations.

The groups are publishing their recommendations, along with evidence on vaccine safety and effectiveness, so the public can receive “clear, consistent, science-based guidance even while the federal process is in flux,” Fryhofer said.

The medical societies agree that nearly everyone aged 6 months and older should receive a flu vaccine. They identify adults aged 65 and older, pregnant women, young children and people with conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease or weakened immune systems as especially vulnerable. The vaccines do not prevent every infection, but an analysis published in JAMA found they reduced hospitalizations among older adults by 31%.

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clear, consistent, science-based guidance even while the federal process is in flux