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With the depletion of the federal-purchased supply of COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests following the end of the public health emergency, this resource provides an overview of the implications of these changes for access to people covered by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance, as well as those who are uninsured.
In the weeks after the Trump administration reduced the number of recommended childhood vaccines for routine use, the public’s trust in the CDC remains at its lowest point. Among those who have heard about the recent changes to the recommended childhood vaccine schedule, more say they expect the changes to have a negative impact than a positive one on children’s health.
As the vaccine rollout continues across the country, a key question is whether and how far governments and employers can go to require the public and workers to get vaccinated. Our new issue brief explains the legal basis for vaccine mandates and what limitations might apply.
Data show that children’s vaccination rates, including MMR and seasonal flu vaccines, have declined in recent years largely due to decreases in vaccinations among White and Asian children. At the same time, and despite the declines among White and Asian children, Black and AIAN children remain least likely to have received recommended childhood vaccinations and the MMR vaccine specifically.
Government officials hope to identify one or more safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines over the next few months as part of a multi-agency effort known as Operation Warp Speed. If and when they succeed, their focus will shift to making sure people across the country can access the vaccine. A new issue brief lays out some of the key challenges with such a massive vaccination effort, which could require hundreds of millions of vaccine doses…
Starting in May of last year, HHS Secretary Kennedy and the CDC/ACIP began to make changes to the federal vaccine schedule for children, culminating in an announcement on January 5 of this year with the most wide-ranging changes to date. This policy brief tracks the number of states that have announced they are no longer following federal government recommendations for childhood vaccines as of January 20, 2026.
This brief examines U.S. policy options for helping expand global access to COVID-19 vaccines, focusing on four main areas: in-kind donations of vaccine doses, additional funding for global access mechanisms like COVAX, helping expand global vaccine manufacturing, and relaxing or waiving intellectual property protections on vaccine technologies. We summarize what the administration has done to date in these areas and policy issues related to each.
With the COVID-19 vaccination rollout still in its early stages, a KFF analysis finds that most older adults have not yet been vaccinated against the potentially deadly virus, as vaccine supplies remain limited and most states have only recently begun to make people 65 and older eligible. Since January 12, the federal government has recommended that states expand vaccine eligibility to anyone 65 and older, beyond the initial higher-priority groups of health care workers and…
This volume explores confusion around COVID-19 booster eligibility as federal recommendations shift and conflicts with guidance from physician organizations; Florida’s decision to end school vaccine mandates; and research demonstrating that artificial intelligence chatbots can provide generally sound advice, but struggle to make personalized recommendations.
These findings from a KFF/Washington Post survey reveal how parents encounter information related to children's health on social media, including trust in content they see online and whether they have specific, trusted influencers when it comes to information about children's health.
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