It's the Brian Larry Show on WNYC.

Good morning again, everyone.

So for those of you wanting the latest COVID vaccine this fall, things have suddenly

gotten more complicated. The FDA, as you

probably heard, approve the updated Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, but that doesn't mean you can walk

into a pharmacy and get the shot like you may have in the past. So to talk about where things

stand now and the next steps in this process and to answer your questions to the extent that we can

at this point. We're joined by Caroline Lewis, healthcare reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, who has a

new story on COVID vaccines, plus has looked at the back-to-school picture for childhood

vaccines. Caroline, always great to have you on the show. Hi. Hi, Brian. So there's a lot to unpack. Let's just

start for people who have missed it with that FDA approval for the new versions of the vaccine,

tailored to the latest variant of the virus, but with limitations. What's new here?

So like you said, we have approvals for vaccines from multiple, you know,

manufacturers. But this year, they have been sort of broadly approved for people over 65.

And then only for younger people if they have certain health conditions that put them at

higher risk for severe symptoms if they get COVID.

And the FDA was not really specific about those conditions, but the CDC does have this sort of long conditions that put people at higher risk up online.

It's a pretty wide range of conditions, but I think people are still

sort of concerned and partly confused about, you know, what real access will look like this year.

So let's go down the generational ladder a little bit. First, for people over 65 who are

automatically qualified, I gather, I've heard some

speculation in the news media that even for people over 65, it might be more complicated to get a

...