In the unprecedented absence of federal guidance, leading medical groups are issuing their own recommendations for who should get the COVID-19, flu and RSV immunizations.
Page A5From§Eachthe noon edition — 2 September 2026
Medical societies step in for flu vaccines while Trump CDC stays quiet
This year, flu season arrives with the CDC notably absent from its usual post. Instead, major medical societies have stepped in, issuing guidance directly to the public. It’s not the first time institutions have filled a vacuum, but the stakes are especially clear: when the CDC declines to speak, someone has to answer the phones. Medical groups now recommend vaccination for flu season, filling the silence. The public's trust in official bodies relies on those bodies showing up; when they don’t, the gap is plugged by whoever’s left holding the bag. For families, that means reading vaccine advice off a press release instead of a government website. It’s a patch job, not a fix, but it’s how the country gets its shots. The loudest silence this fall is the CDC’s, and the doctors are the ones shouting into it.
“When the feds go silent, the doctors have to fill in the blanks. If the CDC won't say the word 'vaccine,' your kid's shot comes from a press release.”
“There's nothing wrong with letting medical professionals take the lead, anyway. The CDC has plenty on its plate, and it's not as if the guidance is missing—it's just coming from a different place. Did I say 'missing'? I meant 'distributed.'”
The receipts
Several major medical organizations are calling on people to protect themselves against flu, COVID-19, and RSV this fall with updated vaccines despite the lack of guidance from the Trump administration health agencies. The new recommendations from doctors’ groups through the Vaccine Integrity Project, led by the American Medical…
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.