Flu shot recommendation for kids dropped just as the illness rages

A child receives an immunization at a Florida pediatrician's office in Sept. 2025. Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America hide caption toggle caption Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America Every year, Dr. Molly O'Shea's pediatric practices would hold drive-thru clinics in the parking lot to make it as easy as possible for busy parents to quickly get their kids their annual flu and COVID-19 shots. "We would do big flu clinics. You know, hundreds — literally hundreds – of families would come through at one time and when they'd roll down their windows we would give vaccine," O'Shea says. But those days are gone. "No more drive-thrus. That's out. We can't do that anymore," O'Shea says. That's because last spring Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped the recommendation that all kids routinely get COVID shots. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week did the same thing for six other childhood immunizations, including the annual flu shot. Instead, the CDC now says parents should talk to a health care provider about whether the shot is really necessary — what's called "shared clinical decision-making." "The possibility of doing mass vaccination...