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Every cold and flu season, you probably find yourself thinking about vaccinations for your kids: flu, Covid, the works. Maybe you’re at a routine checkup and you’re wondering if you should ask your doctor for the shots; maybe the pediatric clinic is running a vaccine clinic and you’re considering stopping by with the whole family. Either way, it has become a routine part of every autumn.

But this year, it’s different.

Any parent who reads the news or logs onto social media has probably heard that the US government has changed its vaccine guidance. They may also have learned that some of the leading doctor organizations in the country are opposed to those changes, as are a growing number of states.

I am lucky to have three healthy children under age 7, but I have still found myself wondering particularly about the value of Covid-19 shots for them the past few years. Like many parents, I have a lot of questions: Is the government going to change what vaccines we can get? Are Covid and flu shots going to be accessible anymore? Will they be covered by health insurance? How do I even know anymore which vaccines are safe for my child?

It used to be simple: The federal government, professional medical societies, your personal physician would all tell you the same thing about which vaccines you should get. And then your health insurance company — following that guidance — would usually cover the cost. But perhaps not anymore.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the US health secretary, is making a lot of changes to the government’s vaccine policy.

He has unilaterally declared that healthy children and healthy pregnant women should not receive a dose of the Covid vaccines — a move that has spurred uproar among staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and led to an exodus of its leaders, including director Susan Monarez. There have been

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