Epidemiologist Breaks Down New Restrictions on COVID Shots

Discussion Questions

1. Why has the federal government issued new rules about COVID vaccines?
2. Who is Katelyn Jetelina, and what is her background?
3. What are some of the conditions that qualify adults for COVID vaccines, according to the new FDA rules?
4. Where are 90% of vaccines given, according to Jetelina?
5. How have some pediatricians and other doctors disagreed with the FDA rules?

Extension Activity: Then & Now

Then

In 1918, a global influenza pandemic, called the "Spanish Flu," spread across much of the world. The flu spread first among soldiers fighting in World War I before infecting communities across the globe.

The Spanish Flu killed an estimated 50 million worldwide, including nearly 700,000 in the United States. At the time, little was known about viruses or the cause of flu. Though vaccines, or inoculations, were already being used to prevent some diseases, there was no vaccine available for most people for the Spanish Flu.

Still, officials debated how to control the spread of the disease through public health measures, including quarantines and mask wearing.

While doctors and public health officials struggled to contain the flu, some took advantage of public fears by marketing unproven treatments. One advertising campaign that ran in papers across the U.S. falsely suggested that visiting a chiropractor (an alternative medicine practitioner that treats spinal alignment) could prevent dying from the flu.

Now

Robert Kennedy, Jr. was appointed to the head of Health and Human Services (HHS), and immediately promised to review the safety of vaccines, including the COVID vaccine. In August 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, a part of HHA) issued guidance limiting COVID vaccines to those at highest risk.

Public officials and doctors knew more about how to treat and prevent viruses during the COVID pandemic than the Spanish Flu. Still, all viruses behave differently and doctors had to quickly determine the best ways to prevent the spread of COVID without fully understanding how it spread. The COVID vaccine was developed in record time and helped to prevent the spread and worst effects of the disease for many.

Watch the video below about the the rollout of the vaccine in December 2020.

Discussion Questions

1. What differences and similarities do you think there might have been between the responses to the Spanish Flu and the COVID pandemic?
2. What lessons from the Spanish Flu and COVID pandemics do you think public health officials will use to better address a future pandemic?

Republished with permission from PBS News Hour Classroom.