US medical groups issue vaccine guidance, urge jabs for flu, COVID and RSV

By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and AP. Published On 3 Sep 20263 Sep 2026.

Key points

• RSV caused an estimated 2.8 million to 5.8 million outpatient visits, 170, 000 to 340, 000 hospitalisations, and up to 25, 000 deaths.
• While RSV activity remained relatively similar, the burden of influenza and COVID declined in the 2025-2026 season compared with the previous year.
• The coalition, which includes the American Medical Association (AMA) and American Academy of Pediatrics, issued the vaccine guidance for respiratory illnesses on Wednesday.
• The advice usually comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with support from its independent advisers.
• Medical associations repeatedly vocally resisted steps taken under Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Meanwhile, a coalition of leading medical groups in the United States has pressed the public to secure updated vaccinations for influenza and COVID-19, publishing its own guidance to fill a gap left by shifting advice from the federal administration.

Notably, the coalition, which includes the American Medical Association (AMA) and American Academy of Pediatrics, issued the vaccine guidance for respiratory illnesses on Wednesday.

It included the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and varied by age group and other factors, such as pregnancy.

"The latest high-quality scientific evidence found that these immunisations continue to provide meaningful protection against severe illness, hospitalisation and death, " the groups remarked in an official note.

Notably, the coalition remarked it hoped to ease "confusion and chaos" caused by the absence of updated vaccine recommendations, and observed that recent scientific studies have raised no new health reservations related to vaccines for the viruses.

"Patients need and deserve vaccine recommendations that are clear, credible, and based on the best available scientific evidence, so they can make informed vaccine decisions for themselves and for their families, " AMA president-elect Sandra Fryhofer informed a news conference.

She remarked the coalition's independent review has been published online so "the public has clear, consistent, science-based guidance even while the federal process is in flux".

Meanwhile, the advice usually comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with support from its independent advisers. But the administration of President Donald Trump, in a sweeping overhaul of vaccine policy, began last year pulling back on some longstanding recommendations for virus protection and routine children's vaccinations.

These include recommendations for the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns and the COVID-19 vaccine for US residents older than six months.

Medical associations repeatedly vocally resisted steps taken under Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. This person is a vaccine sceptic, and stated the changes run counter to scientific consensus.

For context, a federal judge has since suspended plenty of of the administration's measures, ruling in March that the federal administration had disregarded science-based methods. That decision has hampered the work of the expert panel advising the CDC on vaccination recommendations.

This year, the federal administration has only issued guidance for influenza, or the flu, extending its advice from last year.

As well as updated COVID vaccines for healthy adults, young children and pregnant women, the guidance from the medical groups on Wednesday recommended an annual influenza shot for everyone six months and older. It additionally advised RSV immunisations for older adults, pregnant women and children younger than eight months.

Influenza had the highest burden of the three during the 2025-2026 respiratory virus season, with regarding 32 million to 52 million cases, 390, 000 hospitalisations and 24, 000 deaths in the US, according to CDC estimates.

There were regarding 4.6 million to 12.9 million COVID cases over the same period, with 140, 000 to 240, 000 hospitalisations and 15, 000 to 42, 000 deaths, according to CDC preliminary estimates.

Taken together, the developments around US medical groups issue vaccine guidance, urge jabs for flu, COVID and point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.