Mass. tries to cut through the COVID vaccine confusion

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Mixed messages about vaccines are in full effect, just in time for the upcoming flu and COVID season kickoff. And let me just say, it sure is confusing.

The FDA approved the latest COVID shots last month, but only for adults age 65 and older or people with health conditions that put them at risk for severe illness. However, the CDC has yet to weigh in with its guidance. A key advisory committee is scheduled to meet next week after a delay that disrupted access to the vaccines in more than a dozen states. (The committee's recommendations are distinct from the FDA's approval, and are meant to guide government policy and medical practice around who should get vaccines and when.)

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had already directed the CDC to stop recommending routine COVID shots for pregnant women and children. He bypassed the advisory group to do this, a move that alarmed many public health and vaccine experts.

Kennedy also fired and replaced all the members of the committee, leading to concerns it is now stocked with people who, like him, have made baseless claims about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

In testimony on Capitol Hill last week, Kennedy claimed the COVID vaccines were still available to anyone who wanted one. But that contradicted what patients were hearing at major pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens in many states.

Amid the barrage of conflicting information, several states are already going their own ways. Florida announced it would try to cancel all vaccine mandates, including for schoolchildren. On the opposite end of the political spectrum, coalitions of northeastern and western states launched independent efforts to make vaccine recommendations based on what they consider the most reliable scientific evidence.

One of those states, Massachusetts, now has a standing order at pharmacies, so any resident over the age of 5 can get a COVID shot. Gov. Maura Healey said the state would be the first in the nation to require health insurers to cover the vaccines.

“We won’t let Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy get between patients and their doctors,” Healey said in a statement announcing the policy.

But even her order won’t cover every resident. My colleague Martha Bebinger reported that those with health plans through employers that are "self-insured," often large companies, will fall under federal rules. They’ll have to confirm they’re covered.

The differing rules and recommendations only add to the confusion about who is eligible for shots, how much they’ll cost, and whether they require a prescription — not to mention whether they’re needed.

In an interview with WBUR’s Here & Now, Healey acknowledged that a mishmash of vaccine policies isn’t ideal. But she said she felt compelled to “fill the void” at the federal level.

“Well, I think it's a sad state of affairs that the federal government has completely gutted public health infrastructure in this country. And now we're in a situation where it could be patchwork. That is not what we want to see,” Healey said.

She also expressed concern that the Trump administration could weaken access to other vaccines, such as for flu, respiratory syncytial virus (or RSV), measles, mumps and rubella (the MMR vaccine) and chicken pox. She pointed to Florida's announcement as an example of the danger of “letting the political agenda override science.”

“It's going to put people at risk,” she said. “And, you know, as I think about the number of families and folks who travel to Disney World, measles is not the souvenir they wanted to return with."