Confused about fall vaccines? We have answers.
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 9 September 2025
⏱️ 34 minutes
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Summary
Since taking over as health and human services secretary earlier this year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired members of a key vaccine panel, signaled shifts to the childhood immunization schedule and changed guidelines about who should receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Now there are questions about which pharmacies will offer shots and whether insurance companies will cover the cost.
“Post Reports” host Elahe Izadi is joined by Lena Sun, a national health reporter for The Washington Post, to wade through the confusion and answer listener questions about vaccines this fall. They discuss how to find a covid shot, when might be the best time to receive your flu vaccine, and how Kennedy and the Trump administration could continue to reshape vaccine guidance and public health in the United States.
Today’s episode was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy with help from Lucas Trevor. It was mixed by Sam Bair and edited by Elana Gordon with help from Reena Flores. Thanks to Fenit Nirappil.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Okay, so I don't know about you, but I have a lot of questions about vaccines these days. |
| 0:07.7 | The COVID shot, the flu shot, can I even get them? |
| 0:11.8 | Should I get them? |
| 0:13.1 | What about children or older adults? |
| 0:16.6 | Will insurance cover these vaccines? |
| 0:18.7 | Will pharmacies even have them? |
| 0:21.0 | A lot of stuff is not clear, and we're also at a place where the country hasn't been before. |
| 0:27.2 | Lena Sun is a national health reporter for The Post. |
| 0:30.4 | She's been bringing exclusive reporting on the big changes at the nation's top health agencies. |
| 0:36.3 | And she says if you're also feeling confused about vaccines right now, you're not alone. |
| 0:41.7 | Pediatricians haven't been in this spot before. |
| 0:44.4 | The American Academy of Pediatrics hasn't been like this before. |
| 0:47.6 | The OBGYNs because all the guidance used to come from one trusted source, |
| 0:52.8 | the CDC's Vaccine Committee. And Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, |
| 0:58.2 | Jr., the health secretary, blew that up. |
| 1:04.9 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post reports. I'm Ella Hee-Zadi. It's Tuesday, September 9th. We recently asked |
| 1:14.6 | you, our listeners, to share your most pressing questions and concerns about vaccines right now. |
| 1:20.2 | So today, we bring Lena into the studio to answer them. She also explains why there's so |
| 1:26.2 | much uncertainty about vaccines and what other changes to |
| 1:29.8 | vaccine policy could be coming next. Lina, hi, thanks for joining me today. Hi, happy to be here. |
| 1:40.1 | Although I'm not sure I'm going to be able to answer all your questions. I'm sure I'm confident if anyone can do it. It's you. That's why I want you here with me. Okay. So, you know, we're about to enter fall. And this is about the time of the year when I start getting calls from my mother every day. Have you gotten your flu shot? Have you gotten your COVID shot? And that's what this time of your signals for me. But this year feels very different. |
| 2:06.9 | Getting those vaccines seems way more complicated and confusing before. I used to just, you know, |
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