Medical societies issue new flu, Covid and RSV vaccine guidance for the winter season

Professional bodies representing pediatricians, family physicians, obstetricians and other clinicians unveiled coordinated vaccine recommendations on Wednesday for influenza, Covid-19 and RSV ahead of the winter respiratory-illness surge. The effort, conducted with the University of Minnesota’s Vaccine Integrity Project, seeks to give clinicians clear advice after the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was disbanded in June 2025 and its successor’s guidance remains contested in court.

While the core recommendations largely follow earlier guidance, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists extended the window for administering RSV vaccine to pregnant people from the previous Jan. 31 cut-off to March 1, citing shifting seasonal patterns. The American Academy of Pediatrics added that infants under eight months whose mothers missed the vaccine should receive RSV monoclonal antibodies, as should high-risk children entering their second RSV season.

Officials from the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Vaccine Integrity Project stressed the importance of receiving flu shots in October to counter waning immunity. Detailed rationales were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and an interactive tool will be added to the Vaccine Integrity Project website.