Medical Societies Back Flu, RSV, COVID Vaccine Guidance

Adults and children now have a unified set of respiratory vaccine recommendations aligned with pre-June 2025 federal guidance.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Asthma

Medical Societies Back Flu, RSV, COVID Vaccine Guidance

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Do you trust your doctor's vaccine advice more than federal health agency guidance?

A multi-society Vaccine Guidance Review Panel endorsed influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for adults and children, aligned with ACIP guidance issued before June 2025. The panel was formed by the American Thoracic Society, AAAAI, CHEST, and SCCM, and it is relevant to adults and children seeking clear guidance ahead of the upcoming respiratory virus season.

Why it matters

Changes in CDC and ACIP processes in 2025 led to potential harmful updates to the vaccine schedule, prompting medical societies to issue a unified set of recommendations. The effort aims to protect respiratory health and keep COVID-19 vaccine guidance consistent with AAP, ACOG, AAFP, and IDSA.

The review was a consensus process in which the four societies examined the vaccination-development process and the resulting guidance from AAP, AAFP, ACOG, and IDSA. The endorsed recommendations are anchored to ACIP guidance issued before June 2025, and no new trial or effect-size data were reported.

The players

American Thoracic Society

A medical society focused on lung health and respiratory disease, including asthma, COPD, and pulmonary infections.

American Academy of Pediatrics

The national pediatric society whose guidance on childhood immunization is widely followed by clinicians across the United States.

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

The federal advisory body that develops national vaccine recommendations, which the endorsed guidance is aligned with.

The details

The panel reviewed how the guidance was developed and then reached a unanimous endorsement of the recommendations from four professional bodies. By tying its endorsement to ACIP guidance issued before June 2025, the panel gives clinicians a fixed reference point for influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 vaccination in adults and children. The approach separates the question of how recommendations were produced from the question of what they recommend.

June 2025: ACIP recommendations cutoff date for the aligned guidance.
2025: CDC and ACIP process changes that prompted concerns about potential harmful schedule updates.
Upcoming respiratory virus season: clinicians need guidance for patients at high risk.

Health Landscape

The endorsed recommendations are anchored to ACIP guidance issued before June 2025, which places them against the federal vaccine schedule that existed before the 2025 process changes. The effort reflects a broader shift in which professional medical societies issue parallel guidance when federal recommendations are in flux.

Adults and parents of children with asthma or other chronic lung conditions may want to ask their clinician which respiratory vaccines fit their situation before the upcoming season. Because the guidance is population-level, decisions about individual vaccination are worth discussing with your doctor.

The takeaway

Medical societies have aligned on vaccine guidance that stays consistent with pre-June 2025 ACIP recommendations. Bring the question of which influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 vaccines fit your household to your physician before respiratory virus season begins.