Why Updated Covid Shots Are Missing for Kids in 11 States
The Trump administration is holding back updated Covid vaccines for all children in 11 states and one U.S. territory as the 2026-27 pediatric shots roll out.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is not providing Covid vaccines through the federal Vaccines for Children program, known as VFC, during the rollout. HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard confirmed that Covid vaccines are not available through VFC. The CDC said it was finalizing decisions about buying Covid vaccines through VFC and a related federal fund called the Section 317 program, according to The Guardian.
VFC works like a central buyer. It purchases vaccines and provides them free to clinics for eligible children. In most states, it covers children who are Alaska Native or American Indian, uninsured or underinsured, or enrolled in or eligible for Medicaid. That group accounts for 52% of children in the U.S. In states with universal purchase programs, VFC supplies vaccines for all children. Those jurisdictions are Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming, plus American Samoa as a universal purchaser through the VFC system.
Previous Covid vaccines expired earlier in 2026 before the updated pediatric shots became available, so no carryover supply remained in the federal pipeline. The federal government approved updated Covid-19 vaccines for the 2026-27 respiratory virus season, according to CNN. On September 16, 2026, Reuters, citing the Wall Street Journal, reported that U.S. states faced delays in getting child Covid vaccines through the federal immunization program, as described by Reuters. On September 17, 2026, CNN reported that Covid-19 vaccines were delayed for about half of U.S. children.
Executive Order 14407 relating to childhood vaccine recommendations is dated May 29, 2026. On August 10, 2026, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for fewer childhood vaccinations, according to Reuters. On September 18, 2026, Trump said his administration plans to ask vaccine makers to split certain childhood shots into five shots, according to Reuters.
On recommendations, the CDC advised the Covid-19 booster for all children in 2023, when uptake among children was less than 10%. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel that advises on vaccine use, later recommended Covid-19 immunization based on individual decision-making for all people six months and older. The CDC updated its adult and child schedules in October 2025 to apply that individual-based approach to Covid vaccination. HHS announced a Request for Information in August 2026 seeking public input on federal vaccine recommendations and shared clinical decision-making, meaning decisions made jointly by doctor and patient.
Supply for young children had drawn attention in 2025. The Guardian obtained an email indicating Pfizer had been told that FDA approval for its Covid vaccine for young children might not be granted. It reported that Moderna may have to fill the gap if Pfizer's vaccine for young children was not renewed.
The broader context here is that procurement acts as policy. Washington approved an updated formula but did not place it in VFC, and eligibility rules then decide who loses access first. Universal-purchase states feel the effect across the pediatric population at once. Elsewhere the effect concentrates among VFC-eligible children. State health departments order through the federal system and cannot easily substitute commercial supply for a program built to cover exactly those groups.
Looking to the season ahead, the questions to watch are administrative. Whether the CDC adds updated Covid vaccines to VFC and Section 317 buying, on what timetable, and with what recommendation language will shape ordering, reimbursement, and what clinics have available. The expired prior supply removes a buffer.
