Doctors release vaccine guidance amid CDC panel limbo — SkimNews
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- Medical professional organizations representing pediatricians, family physicians, and obstetricians jointly released winter vaccination guidelines for influenza, COVID-19, and RSV in conjunction with the University of Minnesota's Vaccine Integrity Project.
- The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists extended the RSV vaccine window for pregnant people from January 31 to March 1, citing that recent RSV seasons have started later and run longer, per ACOG chief medical officer Christina Davidson.
- The RSV vaccine remains a once-only shot for adults, so pregnant people can only receive it in a single pregnancy; future babies will be recommended to receive RSV monoclonal antibodies if 8 months or younger going into their first RSV season.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends monoclonal antibodies for all babies 8 months and younger whose mothers didn't receive the RSV vaccine during pregnancy, or whose vaccination status is unclear.
- Sarah Nosal, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, recommended October as the best time for flu vaccination since effectiveness can wane over the course of the season.
- The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was fired in June 2025 by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and replaced largely with vaccine skeptics; a court challenge has left its recommendations in legal limbo.
- Papers outlining the rationale for the recommendations were published Wednesday in JAMA, and an interactive tool will be posted on the Vaccine Integrity Project's website.
Why it matters: The CDC's vaccine advisory panel was gutted and its recommendations mired in legal limbo, leaving doctors and patients navigating two parallel guidance systems heading into winter — independent recommendations from professional organizations published in JAMA, alongside the restructured federal committee's disputed advice.
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