After federal health officials made abrupt changes to US Covid-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant women last month, there’s new confusion and uncertainty about who can get the shots — and some reports that patients were turned away when they tried to get vaccinated.

U.S. public health authorities have skirted normal procedures and announced two major policy changes that will likely reduce access to COVID-19 vaccines and restrict use to higher-risk populations. Here,

Kennedy last week announced he would “retire” the entire panel that guides U.S. vaccine policy. He also quietly removed Dr. Melinda Wharton — the veteran Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official who coordinated the committee's meetings.

Offit, who sits on the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC), made the comments after criticizing Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for instructing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stop recommending the COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant women and children.

While COVID-19 transmission remains low in the US, health experts are anxious about the potential for a big summer wave as two factors seem set for a collision course: a lull in infection activity that suggests protective responses have likely waned in the population, and a new SARS-CoV-2 variant with an infectious advantage over other variants.

A new federal COVID-19 vaccine policy is raising alarms among San Diego doctors and advocates. They worry it could deepen existing health disparities and leave low-income communities of color at greater risk.