The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has voted to add the Covid-19 vaccines to the child and adult immunization schedules coming 2023, making it a regular vaccine recommendation for physicians.

“The immunization schedule is the ‘Gold Standard’ meant to help providers which vaccines should be recommended and when,” said Dr. Theodore Strange, chair of medicine at Staten Island University Hospital, in an interview with Healthline.

When emergency protocols for the vaccine end soon, this would move the vaccines from “an emergency response to a routine immunization program activity,” according to the CDC. This gives the protocol to different ages starting at no younger than 6 months old. It also guides physicians on the time and amount of dosage depending on age and brand of vaccine.

Additionally, according to Healthline, this decision has not yet been approved by the CDC. The ACIP is only an advisory committee within the CDC. But the decision is expected to get passed by the CDC. The move is said to allow insurance providers to cover the cost of getting the vaccine and give it free to uninsured children under the Vaccines for Children program.

There has been noise in the news that this means children will be mandated to get the vaccine to enter schools. However, the CDC has stated they only make recommendations, and that school mandates happen at the state and local levels. The CDC is not forcing children to take the vaccine.

“State laws establish vaccination requirements for school children. These laws often apply not only to children attending public schools but also to those attending private schools and daycare facilities. All states provide medical exemptions, and some state laws also offer exemptions for religious and/or philosophical reasons. State laws also establish mechanisms for enforcement of school vaccination requirements and exemptions,” says the CDC.