Kennedy's Empty Vaccine Committee Leaves New Flu Shots Uncovered

New flu vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration in August are now hitting a wall at the pharmacy counter. Without a formal recommendation from the federal advisory panel, insurers are not covering the shots, leaving patients to pay out of pocket.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, is currently empty. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has not nominated new members to replace the group he previously overhauled. A federal judge halted those earlier changes, but the vacancy has remained since.

Ron Kroening, a 63-year-old with asthma and allergies, experienced this gap directly. His doctor recommended Moderna’s new mRNA flu vaccine, which the FDA approved for adults 50 and older in August. Kroening found only one local pharmacy stocked with the vaccine and paid a $40 co-pay. His insurer declined coverage because the shot lacks an ACIP recommendation.

Insurers typically gain a one-year grace period after a recommendation to add coverage, usually starting in the following January. Because the committee has not met, this timeline is paused. A recommendation issued in December 2026 would require coverage by January 2028. A delay until January 2027 would push that deadline to January 2029. Lindsay Wiley, a law professor at UCLA, noted that the legal clock does not start until a vote is cast, making a next-year recommendation the best-case scenario for the new flu shot.

The delay extends beyond flu vaccines. Some states prohibit pharmacists from administering shots without an ACIP recommendation. A September 2025 recommendation for new RSV vaccines was also halted by the court ruling, though many insurers are still covering them. Medicare coverage for the new flu shots for seniors has also faced reported delays, even though the law requires coverage without a specific committee vote.

Kennedy’s team has appealed the portion of the court order that disbanded the previous committee. Aaron Siri, a lawyer who has represented Kennedy, wrote on Monday that the White House and the Department of Justice are not making a serious effort to revive the group. Dorit Reiss, a vaccines expert at UC Law San Francisco, agreed that the government is choosing not to install a new ACIP. She suggested the empty seat may suit Kennedy, as his earlier appointees did not move as quickly as he wanted to change the immunization schedule.

The committee’s future remains uncertain even if the current legal battle ends. Reiss warned that trust in the panel’s independence has been damaged, and restoring its authority may require new legislation. Kroening’s insurer belongs to AHIP, an industry group that has promised to keep covering all shots recommended as of September 2025. Kroening said he would choose the new vaccine again and is glad he paid, but he remains frustrated by the lack of coverage.

"It's a mess right now, what they're doing with our vaccines," Kroening said.