Updated COVID-19 vaccines will soon be rolled out ahead of the fall and winter season, but some Americans may not easily be able to access them. In previous years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had a Bridge Access Program, a public-private partnership that provided free COVID-19 vaccines to adults without health insurance and adults whose insurance does not cover all COVID-19 vaccine costs. As a result of federal funding cuts, however, the program is ending this month.
Americans who are covered by Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance will still receive the updated vaccine at no cost. The 25 to 30 million adults who do not have insurance will have to pay out of pocket to get a shot. "The timing is really unfortunate, because we don't yet have the 2024-25 versions of the COVID shots generally available yet, so the Bridge program will end before those are available to uninsured individuals," Dr.
Nathaniel Hupert, an associate professor of population health sciences and of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, told ABC News. The CDC has allocated $62 million in unused vaccine contract funding for state and local programs to buy COVID vaccines for uninsured and underinsured adults to help broaden access, but details remain scant. "Yes, there were $62 million unspent funds, but state and local health departments have been depleted since the pandemic," Dr.
Rebecca Weintraub, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and director of Better Evidence at .