Mass. expands access to COVID boosters and sets independent vaccine path

COVID vaccines will be more widely available in Massachusetts this fall and winter than in many other states, with Gov. Maura Healey’s order Thursday that health insurers must cover all state and federally recommended vaccines with no out-of-pocket costs.

Massachusetts now allows more widespread distribution of COVID vaccines than is recommended by the federal government. But Healey said more action is needed to ensure that residents who want the shots have access to them.

“We won’t let Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy get between patients and their doctors,” Healey said in a statement. “When the federal government fails to protect public health, Massachusetts will step up.”

The state’s Board of Registration in Pharmacy on Thursday posted a standing order that allows pharmacists to administer COVID booster shots to Bay Staters over age 5 — even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have yet to make vaccine recommendations for the upcoming COVID and flu season. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. in May announced that the CDC would no longer recommend COVID shots for healthy pregnant women and children, a move that shocked many vaccine experts.

Kennedy, who's long voiced skepticism about vaccines, this summer also fired all members of a federal vaccine advisory panel and installed new appointees. That group is scheduled to meet next in mid-September.

“Democrat-run states that pushed unscientific school lockdowns, toddler mask mandates and draconian vaccine passports during the COVID era completely eroded the American people’s trust in public health agencies,” Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for Kennedy, said in a statement. “HHS will ensure policy is based on rigorous evidence and Gold Standard Science, not the failed politics of the pandemic.”

But Massachusetts and a growing number of states with Democratic leaders are opting to establish their own vaccine guidelines. Healey noted the coalition of Northeast states that is expected to issue a set of joint recommendations by the end of September. On Wednesday, the governors of California, Oregon and Washington state launched the West Coast Alliance to coordinate public health recommendations. Hawaii has also joined that group.

"The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science. California, Oregon and Washington will not allow the people of our states to be put at risk," the governors said in a joint statement.

At least one Republican-led state is heading in the opposite direction. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said state lawmakers there should repeal all vaccine mandates for children and adults. Public health leaders worry these conflicting messages from state to state and from the federal government will seed confusion and mistrust.

Healey said Massachusetts will tackle that by explaining the reasons for vaccine recommendations and by expanding the coalition of states that adopt uniform guidance that contrasts with federal vaccine messages.

“I think there will be … fortunately a lot of governors and a lot of folks in a lot of states who believe in science and believe in data,” she said.

In Massachusetts, the requirement that insurers cover vaccines recommended by the state would not apply to residents covered by large employers because these self-insured plans are governed by federal rules. A bulletin from the Healey administration encourages them to provide vaccines without co-pays.

Health plans that cover other privately insured employers and individuals said they support Healey’s plans.

The president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, Lora Pellegrini, said in a statement that the group’s members are committed to following “evidence-based” care.

“Protecting access to vaccines is central to reducing preventable illness, addressing health disparities and maintaining the commonwealth’s reputation for leading with science and equity,” she said.

Healey said the state’s Medicaid program will also provide vaccines in line with state vaccination guidelines.

Information from the State House News Service was used in this report.