Apples are ripening, and football season has officially kicked off. But with temperatures dropping, that also means cold and flu season is right around the corner.
Cold and flu season is typically the busiest time of year for hospitals, as respiratory diseases like Covid-19 and RSV spread, and hospitals are forced to grapple with overcrowding.
For decades, health experts have recommended vaccines as the best way to protect against these viruses. But on Sept. 9, the Make America Healthy Again Commission released a new strategy that includes investigating “vaccine injuries” and potentially making changes to the childhood vaccine schedule.
Some Trump officials are also trying to link vaccines to children’s deaths, the Washington Post reported on Sept. 12.
Previously, most adults who wanted a Covid vaccine could go to a local pharmacy to get it. But on Aug. 27, the FDA approved the next round of Covid vaccines with new limitations that only allow people over age 65 or people who are at higher risk for severe Covid to get the shot.
Mary Turner, president of the National Nurses Union, expressed concern about the public health effects in a statement on Aug. 28 and said the decision presents a “major risk with the ongoing threat of Covid and further mutations of the virus.”
Experts have also told us the move could place a greater burden on providers.
“Restricting [vaccine] access will likely mean more Covid cases in the broader population, which in turn could drive additional strain on emergency departments and urgent care centers,” Tyler Evans, a physician as well as co-founder and CEO of the Wellness Equity Alliance, an organization that addresses health inequities, said in an emailed statement.
Last year, flu visits nationwide were reportedly higher than normal, with one major Oregon university hospital reportedly treating 1,101 cases of flu in November and December, compared to 251 during the same months in 2023, CBS News reported in January.
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“Based on the current regulatory environment,” CVS reportedly said in a statement, it and Walgreens are cutting down vaccination efforts, according to CBS News, by either requiring prescriptions or stopping vaccinations in certain states. In a statement, Walgreens reportedly said it “is prepared to offer the vaccine in states where we are able to do so.”
Fierce Healthcare reported 90% of Covid vaccines were performed at those two pharmacy chains in 2024.
As a result, clinicians who work with providers administering the vaccine could see an increase in workload, Evans said.
“As pharmacies scale back vaccination programs, the responsibility will fall more heavily on frontline providers such as nurses, pharmacists, and community health staff during an already demanding season. That added workload raises the risk of burnout and missed opportunities to protect patients,” Evans said.
One 2019 study found that some clinicians can, per adult patient, spend an average of 5–29 minutes on vaccine services—but many patients end up electing to not get inoculated.
States’ sides. Some states are taking matters into their own hands.
Massachusetts’s Department of Public Health, for example, issued a standing order on Sept. 3 to allow most people over the age of five who want a Covid vaccine in the state to get one. California, Oregon, and Washington formed a West Coast Health Alliance, also on Sept. 3, to share trusted health information, including “coordinating health guidelines” based on immunization recommendations from national medical organizations, according to a press release.
Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, a trustee for the American Medical Association, said in a Sept. 3 statement the industry group “strongly opposes” the state’s plan.
“This unprecedented rollback would undermine decades of public health progress and place children and communities at increased risk for diseases,” the statement read.