The Bridge Access Program, a measure by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help uninsured and underinsured Americans get free COVID vaccines, has come to an end. That means that for some low-income individuals, the once-free shots now cost around $200.
The various strains of COVID are still circulating, and the virus is to blame for thousands of deaths each year. In 2023, it was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States.
Still, fewer and fewer Americans are staying up-to-date with the latest COVID vaccinations, and with the program ending, it seems likely that those numbers will continue to trend downward, given that low-income people who are not insured will have to decide if paying for the latest jabs is worth the risk.
Here’s what you need to know.
What is the Bridge Access Program, and how many people used it?
The Bridge Access Program provided COVID vaccinations at no cost for the 25 to 30 million living in the U.S. who have no health insurance or whose insurance didn’t cover the shots. It was easy to access by scheduling appointments or walking into pharmacies or health centers that participated in the program.
Around 34 million COVID-19 vaccines were given to adults in the U.S. last year, and of those, the Bridge Access Program helped fund 1.5 million.
Why is the program ending?
Pandemic-era funding for the Bridge Access Program expired in August 2024.
Are Americans still getting vaccinated against COVID?
According to the Pew Research Center, vaccine numbers have been dwindling. As of March 2024, just 28% of Americans were up-to-date with COVID vaccinations. By comparison, in August of 2021, 69% were fully vaccinated.
What other options do low-income Americans have for staying safe?
According to the CDC, there are other ways low-income Americans can potentially get free or low-cost COVID vaccines, though none of them are a sure thing.
One is a plan the Biden administration has laid out for next year: “The Vaccines for Adults (VFA) program, proposed in the FY 2023 and 2024 Presidential Budgets, would be a long-term solution to ensure all adults have access to recommended vaccinations, including COVID-19 vaccines, at no cost to them,” the CDC website states.
The CDC also announced a plan to allocate $62 million for state and local health departments to buy vaccines for those in need. Therefore, uninsured and underinsured people should, in theory, be able to find locations to get free or low-cost vaccinations. However, the CDC hasn’t yet laid out a plan for how those shots will be distributed.
What about kids?
According to the CDC, children whose guardians are uninsured can continue to get vaccinated through the Vaccines For Children Program. According to the CDC, the program prevents an estimated 472 million illnesses and 29.8 million hospitalizations, and saves about $2.2 trillion due to prevention.
Who could be most impacted by the program’s end?
For many people who have insurance, nothing will change, as most insurance companies still cover COVID shots.
However, for low-income Americans, and especially for Black Americans, who have already been disproportionately impacted by COVID, it’s not unlikely that virus rates will rise if it becomes harder to access vaccinations.
In 2021, Black Americans were also more likely to contract COVID, and more likely to require hospitalization. While the gap closed as COVID rates shrunk, in 2022, Black Americans died at a higher rate of 71.0 per 100,000 people, compared to 58.6 for white Americans.