Following the actions of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing that Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage is available for eligible covered children for the updated COVID-19 vaccines. As a reminder, regardless of what coverage you have, or whether you have coverage at all, COVID-19 vaccines are free to anyone who wants one, for both children and adults. This coverage is part of the ongoing commitment to protect children against severe COVID-19 illness.

The CDC recently expanded the use of updated (bivalent) COVID-19 vaccines to children ages 5 through 11 years. This followed the FDA’s authorization of updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech for children ages 5 through 11 years and from Moderna for children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 years.  People with Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage, private insurance coverage, or no health coverage can get COVID-19 vaccines, including the updated Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, at no cost, for as long as the federal government continues purchasing and distributing these COVID-19 vaccines.

Staying up to date with your COVID-19 vaccinations is the best defense against severe illness, hospitalization, and death from the virus. CMS continues to explore ways to ensure maximum access to COVID-19 vaccinations.

Information regarding the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Program Provider Requirements and how the COVID-19 vaccines are provided through that program at no cost to recipients is available at https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/vaccination-provider-support.html and through the COVID-19 Vaccine Policies & Guidance page. For information on Medicare payment, billing and codes for the updated vaccine, visit the CMS COVID-19 Provider Toolkit.

Visit vaccines.gov (English) or vacunas.gov (Spanish) to search for vaccine locations. For resources to promote COVID-19 vaccination, visit the We Can Do This campaign.