A coalition of leading medical groups in the United States has urged the public to get updated vaccinations for influenza and COVID-19, publishing its own guidance to fill a gap left by shifting advice from the federal government. The coalition, which includes the American Medical Association (AMA) and American Academy of Pediatrics, issued the vaccine guidance for respiratory illnesses on Wednesday. It included the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and varied by age group and other factors, such as pregnancy.
The coalition said it hoped to ease “confusion and chaos” caused by the absence of updated vaccine recommendations, and noted that recent scientific studies have raised no new health concerns related to vaccines for the viruses. She said the coalition’s independent review has been published online so “the public has clear, consistent, science-based guidance even while the federal process is in flux”. The advice usually comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with help from its independent advisers.
But the administration of President Donald Trump, in a sweeping overhaul of vaccine policy, began last year pulling back on some longstanding recommendations for virus protection and routine children’s vaccinations. These include recommendations for the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns and the COVID-19 vaccine for US residents older than six months. Medical associations repeatedly vocally opposed steps taken under Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who is a vaccine sceptic, and said the changes run counter to scientific consensus.
A federal judge has since suspended many of the administration’s measures, ruling in March that the federal government had disregarded science-based methods. That decision has hampered the work of the expert panel advising the CDC on vaccination recommendations. This year, the federal government has only issued guidance for influenza, or the flu, extending its advice from last year.
The guidance from the medical groups on Wednesday recommended an annual influenza shot for everyone six months and older, as well as updated COVID vaccines for healthy adults, young children and pregnant women. It also advised RSV immunisations for older adults, pregnant women and children younger than eight months. Influenza had the highest burden of the three during the 2025-2026 respiratory virus season, with about 32 million to 52 million cases, 390,000 hospitalisations and 24,000 deaths in the US, according to CDC estimates.
There were about 4.6 million to 12.9 million COVID cases over the same period, with 140,000 to 240,000 hospitalisations and 15,000 to 42,000 deaths, according to CDC preliminary estimates. RSV caused an estimated 2.8 million to 5.8 million outpatient visits, 170,000 to 340,000 hospitalisations, and up to 25,000 deaths. The burden of influenza and COVID declined in the 2025-2026 season compared with the previous year, while RSV activity remained relatively similar.
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