Fall at Super Shot means getting annual vaccines in time for respiratory season: flu and COVID vaccines are both given annually to protect from illness. Flu vaccines will be available for patients of all ages, regardless of insurance status, starting in early September. You can make an appointment for the second week of September or join our call list to receive a notification as soon as we have flu shots available for your age group.
Since, May 2021 Super Shot has been the go-to location in Allen County for COVID-19 vaccines. We all remember the early days of COVID-19 vaccines: new mRNA technology, waiting for your age group’s turn to be able to receive vaccines, and the scramble for which brands would be available at which locations. This year the scramble is different—without clear guidance and recommendations from the experts we’ve trusted since 1964, the public isn’t sure what to believe about COVID-19 vaccines this season.
In May 2025, the HHS (Health and Human Services) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that COVID-19 vaccines were removed from the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule for healthy children and pregnant women. The CDC is not recommending COVID vaccines for anyone less than 65 years if not immunocompromised or have other specific health conditions. For younger ages, the CDC recommendation for COVID vaccines now relies on “clinical decision making” of individual providers rather than providing a strong recommendation.
Just last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics released its own set of childhood vaccine schedules as opposed to the CDC recommendations. Bottom line, the federal government’s statement on the COVID vaccine was not in line with their own data that shows that COVID is still a significant health risk to certain children. Pediatricians agree with shared decision making on all medical decisions, but by removing a recommendation, this could cause insurers to avoid paying for the vaccine, meaning parents no longer have a choice. It is confusing to tell families that COVID is still a significant cause of hospitalizations for children under two, also recognizing the COVID vaccine is safe and prevents hospitalization, and yet not recommend the vaccine. The AAP stepped up to provide clear guidance on this, because making a decision that fits the evidence and is in the best interest of children. This is why, for the first time in 30 years, the AAP is diverging from CDC vaccine recommendations.
So why is it important that AAP publish their own recommendations? Because of what MAY happen to CDC vaccine recommendations moving forward. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP), established in 1964, has been a team of experts from across disciplines and providers for all ages and came together to discuss vaccines new to the market and review science about effectiveness when given at different ages. The science behind vaccines has not changed. But the ACIP has changed significantly. In June 2025, HHS Secretary removed all 17 members of the ACIP and quicky replaced them with 5 members. This committee is having conversations at their meetings about vaccine issues that were settled in the 1990s and anti-vaccine groups are being asked to present.
Because we do not know how and when the CDC Immunization Schedule could change and science is no longer driving decisions, we look to the AAP and other trusted bodies to ensure that we are following the science, like we have been since Super Shot’s start in 1993. We also need other professional bodies to do the same thing for other patient populations. Several of these professional organizations are trying to work together under the Vaccines Integrity Project https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/vaccine-integrity-project/vaccine-integrity-project-interim-update
The moral of the story is that the science behind vaccines HAS NOT CHANGED and Super Shot, the vaccine experts, are looking to AAP and others to protect a complete and evidence-based immunization schedule.
