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,

It scares me to think of what’s ahead,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. One of the members of the committee, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals,

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.

The federal government has sown confusion by changing recommendations for Covid-19 vaccines, ending contracts for mRNA technology research and firing the entire congressionally authorized panel that guides the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine decisions.

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.

Smith’s United Conservative Party government doesn’t yet know the amount Albertans, including many seniors over the age of 65, will need to pay for a COVID shot. It estimates it could be $110 each. Routine influenza vaccines will continue to be publicly covered.

The Friday release says Alberta will provide COVID vaccines free of charge to residents of supportive living facilities, those on social programs and those with underlying medical conditions. The rest of us will be required “to cover the full costs of the vaccine,” a phrase repeated in the release.