Mass. Orders Insurers to Cover State-Backed Vaccines, Even Without CDC Support

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said Thursday the state had ordered insurers to cover vaccines backed by its health department, even if the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issue narrower recommendations.

Insurers would no longer rely solely on CDC recommendations, Healey said, making Massachusetts the first U.S. state to guarantee insurance coverage for state-backed vaccines.

Insurers usually follow recommendations from the expert panel at the CDC that advises on who should take FDA-approved vaccines. The panel is next expected to meet on September 18 to discuss the agency’s COVID shot recommendations.

The state’s move comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine campaigner, has moved quickly to reshape U.S. health policy.

Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which like the CDC falls under Kennedy’s purview, limited its approval of updated COVID-19 shots for under 65s to those with health risks, raising questions about insurance coverage for younger people.

Kennedy in May said the U.S. no longer recommends routine COVID-19 shots for healthy kids and pregnant women, prompting medical organizations and several states to formulate their own vaccine recommendations.

He was also confronted by three Senate Republicans on Thursday with their concerns about vaccine policy as he appeared before the Senate Finance Committee.

Healey also said the state had issued an order allowing pharmacies to continue to provide COVID vaccines to Massachusetts residents aged five and older, and would allow the state health department to decide which routine vaccines pharmacists can give in Massachusetts.

She said CVS and Walgreens had begun working to make vaccine appointments available in Massachusetts as soon as possible.

Healey said Massachusetts would lead efforts to create a public health collaboration with other states in New England and across the Northeast, “focused on developing evidence-based recommendations on vaccinations, disease surveillance, emergency preparedness and supporting state public health labs.”

On Wednesday, California, Oregon and Washington said they have launched a new health alliance to provide unified vaccine recommendations, which Hawaii joined on Thursday. Separately, Florida announced plans to end all state vaccine mandates, including for children to attend schools.

Colorado also said it will act quickly to ensure that all Coloradans have access to updated COVID-19 vaccines.

(Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Patrick Wingrove and Arun Koyyur)