Sept. 26, 2026
Today I went to Wegmans in Pittsford, NY, to pick up some prescriptions and get a full roster of vaccinations. Flu and covid were no problem, but I was told I was too young (I’m 71) for the RSV shot.
“Says who?” I asked.
Dr. Jeremy Cushman, I was told.
“Is he the same doctor who advised Wegmans employees not to wear masks at the beginning of the pandemic?” I asked. (As an employee, I had been required to watch a company-produced video warning workers that masks were unsafe. Seemed to me that masks were a threat to the company’s customer-friendly reputation. Wegman’s later dropped this stance and issued masks to workers.)
No, the pharmacist answered. Dr. Cushman doesn’t work for Wegmans. Indeed, he’s chief of the Division of Prehospital Medicine at the University of Rochester.
He didn’t make the rule, she said. He just advised Wegmans about it after “they” decided the vaccine offered no measurable benefits to people under 75.
“Who’s they?” I persisted. RFK Jr.? Donald Trump?
Federal health authorities, I was told. “Really?” I asked, showing her the day’s lead story in the New York Times, headlined “‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission.”
The pharmacist shook her head. The rule change happened years ago, she said, the implication being that the decision preceded the methodical dismantling of the world’s greatest health organization.
Later, ChatGPT and I did a little digging. Here’s some history:
In 2023, when the first RSV vaccines for older adults became available, CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended that anyone 60 or older could get one, based on “shared clinical decision-making” between patient and provider.
But the following year, ACIP voted unanimously for a new recommendation: Everyone 75 and older should get one dose. People 60–74 should receive it if they are at increased risk for severe RSV because of medical conditions or other risk factors.
This wasn’t a Trump-era decision. It occurred during the Biden administration, seven months before Trump started his second term.
I was ultimately able to get the vax, convincing the pharmacist that heart conditions merited it. (In fact, I was there to pick up heart meds.)
Immediate problem solved, but anxiety still at fever pitch. The initial reaction of the pharmacy wasn’t about risk for people under 75. It was that the vaccines weren’t given to people who hadn’t reached that age. If I hadn’t pressed, I don’t believe I would have received it.
Should a visit to the pharmacy be a confrontation?
Patients and their loved ones have have always had to be their own health advocates, but rarely has the effort been as challenging. The federal network of medical professionals – our safety net – is unraveling. As theTimes notes, the CDC has lost almost a third of its staff, reducing its ability to deal with outbreaks of measles domestically and Ebola abroad.
Also, RFK Jr. has radically changed the membership of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Last year, he removed all 17 sitting voting members and replaced them with people who align with policies that his cousin Caroline Kennedy has described as “dangerous and willfully misinformed.”
I can’t help but wish for an anti-anti-vaxxer vax.
Of course, we already have one. It’s called the vote.