Local Health Departments Work to Inform Local Residents after COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements Change to Individual Decision-Making

On August 27, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new round of COVID-19 vaccinations. Along with the new round of vaccines came restrictions on who was able to receive the vaccine, as well as some insurance providers no longer covering the vaccine.

According to the California Medical Association, the FDA’s original approval covered three of the updated COVID-19 Vaccines.

The Moderna mRNA vaccine had been approved for adults 65 years of age and up, adults under the age of 65 with underlying health concerns and risk factors and children six months and older with risk factors.

The Pfizer mRNA vaccine had been approved for all adults 65 years of age and older, as well as adults under 65 years of age with risk factors and children five years of age and older with risk factors.

Novavax, which is protein-based, had been approved for all adults 65 years old and older, as well as children and adults 12 years or older with underlying health concerns.

Those who did not fall within these categories would have been more likely to have to pay a copay, as insurance companies would have been less likely to cover the full cost.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, towards the end of September, the Centers for Disease Control(CDC) approved a recommendation put out by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices(ACIP) stating that all vaccinations for COVID-19 should be determined by individual decision-making for individuals 6 months and older.

According to CDC Newsroom, individual decision-making means vaccination based on shared clinical decision-making. Meaning that individuals are able to discuss with physicians, nurses, and pharmacists to help decide whether or not the vaccine is the right fit for them.

Joan Seidel, the commissioner for the Kent City Health Department, says that since eligibility for the vaccine has been taken away as a result of ACIP’s recommendation, they have “had no problems with people who have taken the COVID vaccine not having the coverage they anticipated for that vaccine.”

As a result of the recent change, the city of Kent, Ohio, is now working to make sure that its residents are aware of the recent change and are working to make sure that those who would most likely have trouble receiving the vaccine are able to.

Seidel said that Kent has taken action to inform residents that they carry the vaccine by posting on their social media pages, as well as setting up mobile vaccine clinics for residents who may have mobility issues and holding a vaccine clinic for Kent city employees.

Seidel stated “I think that people with mobility issues are probably the biggest concern or people that don’t have easy access to vehicles but the fact that the health department is on the PARTA bus line I think that that helps with people being able to get to us and then we hold a vaccine clinic where we know there is larger populations of people who might have issues.”

Seidel says that she feels as though residents think it’s not necessary to get the vaccine, and that some may believe that it’s just like a mild cold; however, some individuals are still becoming very sick.

“I think overcoming that misperception that COVID is nothing more than a worry of the common cold is something that we’re still continuing to inform our community members about.”

According to DataOhio, as of March 2025, only 10.70% of the population of Portage County, where Kent is located, received their updated vaccine. In Stark County, only a total of 8.12% of individuals have received their updated vaccine.

Director of Nursing Services for Stark County Health Department, Amanda Uhler, stated, “We have seen a decrease in the amount of people that are interested in getting the vaccine right now. We still do have some people that are interested in it, but it’s definitely not at the capacity as it was back in the pandemic.”

Uhler says that Stark County Health Department has several ways in which they are informing the residents of Stark County of the recent change when it comes to the vaccine and that it is available to receive.

“We use social media, and you know Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and all those social media platforms, so we try to get our information out that way also we have different postings in our health department for the folks that are coming into the health department that see it and then we also provide one-on-one education with somebody that is in the department.”

With ACIP’s new recommendation in place, some individuals now feel a sense of ease when it comes to COVID-19.

21-year-old Bailey Thomas, who is a Stow, Ohio resident and student at Kent State University, first received her COVID-19 vaccine when they were first introduced and as soon as it became available. “During the pandemic, I was only fifteen, so I felt like I didn’t really have a strong stance on it. Obviously, I wasn’t really that health-conscious, but my parents were very cautious about it, and they motivated me to get the vaccine,” says Thomas.

Since becoming aware of the recent recommendation and change in policy, Thomas says that she feels better now knowing that her family members who are at higher risk are able to receive the vaccine because of the switch to individual decision-making.

Rachel Henderson, a senior at Kent State University, received her COVID-19 vaccine when it first became available in 2020. When it comes to the CDC approving the ACIP recommendation, Henderson says, “since I have asthma, I tend to get sick more frequently and I tend to stay sick for a long time compared to people who don’t have asthma.”

Henderson says, “knowing that I can go get a vaccine and it will help me, I feel more secure and better going into winter knowing I’m protected.”