Several states, including Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York and Pennsylvania, announced this week that they would be breaking with restrictive eligibility policies unveiled last week by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the newly approved COVID-19 vaccines for the fall season.
In New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Friday morning to authorize pharmacists to provide the shot to anyone who desires it for the next 30 days, which can be renewed.
“When they said that they are not going to be requiring COVID shots and other vaccinations for our families, I said, ‘No, here in New York we will make parents have the option.’ If you want your child to have a COVID shot, it should be available to you and it should be covered by insurance,” Hochul said during a news conference Friday morning, where she signed the order.
“So what I’m doing now is signing an executive order, because extreme times call for extreme measures. And this is the power I have to use in the interim until we are able to have the legislature get back in January and pass legislation that mandates this.”
Previous FDA policy recommended that COVID-19 vaccine booster shots be made available to anyone 6 months or older regardless of their health status. But in August, the federal agency announced restrictions for the new shot.
The FDA limited access to the vaccines to people who are 65 and older and to younger people with at least one underlying health condition, such as asthma or obesity, that would put them at risk of developing a severe illness without a booster shot. Children are eligible only if a medical provider is consulted. Additionally, the Pfizer vaccine, one of the three that were approved, will no longer be available for any child under 5.
“The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense. This framework delivers all three,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote on social media platform X on Aug. 27.
Other states are also taking measures to ensure more people can get access to the vaccines.
On Thursday, Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healey ordered health insurers in the state to continue covering the vaccine. The state also issued an order to allow pharmacies to continue providing shots to residents above the age of 5.
Massachusetts is “leading efforts to create a public health collaboration with states in New England and across the Northeast committed to safeguarding public health as the federal government backs away from its responsibilities,” the governor’s office said in a release.
This week, the State Board of Pharmacy in Pennsylvania held a special meeting to vote to bypass federal vaccine recommendations and allow pharmacists to continue administering COVID-19 vaccines.
“Health care decisions should be up to individuals — not the federal government and certainly not RFK Jr. My Administration will continue to protect health care access for all Pennsylvanians,” Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said.
Colorado and New Mexico took similar steps this week, with state officials signing public health orders asking state agencies to take steps necessary to require insurers to cover the vaccines and instructing pharmacists to provide the shots without a doctor’s note.
Stateline reporter Shalina Chatlani can be reached at schatlani@stateline.org.
This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Source New Mexico, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
