The new CDC policy for the COVID vaccine is basically: It’s up to you. They call it “individual-based decision making.” What they are basically saying here is: We don’t recommend healthy people get this vaccine but you can talk to your doctor and choose to get it and this way your insurance will still pay for it. This is very unusual. Most vaccines are either recommended for the general population or advised only in specific cases — travel, occupational risk, or underlying conditions. The CDC is now treating the Covid shot like deodorant: use it if you think you need it. You can’t just “decide” to take chemotherapy, insulin, or any other prescription therapy. That’s not how medicine normally works. If a treatment’s benefit is clear, it’s recommended. If it’s not, it’s restricted to specific conditions or clinical trials. So when public health officials say, “It’s up to you,” they’re quietly admitting: The risk-benefit ratio is no longer universally favorable. The data doesn’t support a one-size-fits-all mandate. They don’t want to own the outcomes of individualized use. But they know some people have built their identity around supporting the Covid vaccine — and the drugmakers still need to sell doses to them. Now the CDC provides the cover to keep that market alive and gives insurers a reason to keep billing for it. On the one hand, this should appease Democrats and diffuse their fear narrative that RFK Jr. would somehow “take away” vaccines. It signals continuity and choice, which reassures the pro-vaccine base without provoking a fight over mandates. On the other hand, by leaving the door open under this vague “case-by-case” model, they’re encouraging some people to take a biologic with minimal benefit and known adverse events. It’s unnerving to see public health try to play both sides of politics. The post CDC to Americans: The COVID Shot Is Now “Up to You” appeared first on Redacted.