Students, faculty and staff will be able to receive the 2025-26 COVID-19 vaccine through any USC Pharmacy, following a decision by Student Health to align itself with new vaccination guidance issued last Thursday by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said Dr. Sarah Van Orman, USC’s chief campus health officer, in a briefing with campus media Tuesday.

The Food and Drug Administration had decided on Aug. 27 to revoke emergency use authorizations for new COVID-19 vaccine formulations, prompting Student Health to work on maintaining the vaccine’s accessibility for the University.

For a time, it seemed as though large swaths of the public would be required to get a health care provider to prescribe them the COVID-19 vaccine, a process Van Orman called “off-label use.” In contrast, roughly two-thirds of Americans aged 18 and older who got a COVID-19 vaccine between 2024 and 25 received the shot at a pharmacy or drugstore, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We know that the [2025-26 COVID-19] vaccine is not substantially different than vaccines we’ve had previously,” Van Orman said. “From a scientific standpoint, there’s no reason why this vaccine should have any other [recommendations].”

Last Friday, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — a vaccine guidance panel within the CDC — unanimously voted to tighten vaccine guidelines by recommending that adults aged 65 and over should only be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine after consulting with a health care provider first, among other changes.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 previous experts on the ACIP and reconstituted it with his appointees June 9. The vote on vaccine guidelines last Friday came just days after the official appointment of about half of the committee’s new members, according to The New York Times. 

Van Orman said what’s “triggering” the review of various vaccines on the federal level is not based on a “scientific question that needs to be asked.”

“There is no scientific basis for that review and scrutiny to be happening and [for] a change in the recommendations at this point,” Van Orman said. “It’s not being driven by, in the view of many vaccine experts, what I’ve seen in the past, which is emerging or new scientific information that should cause us to change our recommendations.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 144 on Sept. 17, which changed state law by no longer solely citing ACIP’s recommendations as the basis for health insurance-covered immunizations and by authorizing the California Department of Public Health to update vaccine recommendations, among other changes. 

“In the face of federal leadership that has completely failed us, the West Coast is taking action grounded in evidence and safety and transparency,” Newsom said in a video uploaded to his website shortly after the bill’s signing. 

The CDPH currently recommends COVID-19 vaccines for “all who choose protection,” with an exception for those younger than six months old. 

According to its website, the FDA routinely checks the efficacy and safety of medications and vaccines after they’ve been released to the public — a process called postmarket surveillance. Additionally, the CDC has in place a vaccine adverse event reporting system, which acts as the “nation’s early warning system” for vaccines. 

Van Orman said new data published after the FDA approves a vaccine or medication for distribution can reveal information about its efficacy and safety, resulting in the release of new usage recommendations. 

“Sometimes you can have early scientific studies on something, [and] when you start using it really broadly, the evidence changes,” Van Orman said. “Absolutely that type of analysis is important … In my scientific opinion, in my training, in the view of many public health and vaccine experts, there is not that type of compelling evidence [for the COVID-19 vaccine].”

The University’s Wastewater Surveillance Program, which tests and monitors the wastewater of most freshman dorms and all USC Village residential halls for infectious diseases, is indicating that the University’s early September COVID-19 surge is subsiding, Van Orman said. 

Levels of influenza A and norovirus remain minimal, and SARS-CoV-2 levels have dropped  significantly from their Sept. 8 peak; Pardee Tower and Cowlings and Ilium Residential College no longer have “very high” levels of SARS-CoV-2, according to tests performed last week.

“We believe we may be through this sort of COVID surge that we saw when we came back to campus,” Van Orman said. “That’s great news for everybody who’s sick, but we know that other [respiratory illnesses] are coming right around the corner.”

Student Health hosts the Immu-Fair at the start of each school year to provide students the opportunity to get up-to-date on all their vaccinations. While this year’s Immu-Fair concluded Aug. 23 after seeing 2,443 participants, according to Student Health, students can still get their flu shot at Student Health’s pop-up tents outside Engemann Student Health Center and at a weekly set up at the Trojan Farmers Market at McCarthy Quad.