The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
KFF’s policy research provides facts and analysis on a wide range of policy issues and public programs.
KFF designs, conducts and analyzes original public opinion and survey research on Americans’ attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with the health care system to help amplify the public’s voice in major national debates.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the organization’s core operating programs.
This month the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) adopted a recommendation that health care workers and long-term care residents should be the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine once it is authorized or approved by the FDA. A new KFF analysis estimates there are 15.
This analysis provides new national and state-level estimates of the number of health care workers and long-term care residents who are expected to be part of the group first in line to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to gain insight into how this initial priority population varies across states.
Encouraging reports about several COVID-19 vaccine candidates is raising hopes that there will soon be one or more vaccines proven safe and effective, starting a race to produce, distribute, and administer it to essential workers, people at high risk, and the public, including those who may start out with skepticism about the risks posed by…
This brief provides an overview of barriers to vaccination that disproportionately affect people of color and discusses how current national recommendations and state vaccine allocation plans address racial equity.
In this Foreign Affairs article, Josh Michaud and Jen Kates lay out the challenges in vaccinating people in low-income countries around the world and review early plans to ensure safe and effective vaccines are made available and delivered to people across the globe.
With hopes that a COVID-19 vaccine or vaccines will be proven safe and effective soon, state and local public health authorities will play a critical role in ensuring the efficient distribution and administration of the vaccine.
The brief provides an overview of how vaccines are reimbursed and covered across government programs and different types of health insurance in the United States. It coverage regulations specific to COVID-19 vaccine(s).
This brief summarizes the information contained in the all available draft COVID-19 vaccination plans submitted by states to the CDC, focusing in particular in critical areas such as identifying critical/priority populations, identifying and recruiting providers to administer vaccines, the completeness of state-level vaccine data collection and reporting systems, and communication plans. States report widely varying levels of progress.
When a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, all or most people living in the country will need to get vaccinated in order to maximize its benefits and provide adequate immunity nationwide.
This analysis of flu vaccination rates across states and across groups within each state highlights some of the challenges facing public health officials in ensuring most people receive a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available.
© 2026 KFF