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Happy Friday. It’s Fisherman’s Feast weekend in the North End. WBUR’s Hanna Ali has a guide on what to expect (the CliffsNotes: meatballs, flying children).
But first, the news:
Calling their own shots: Massachusetts is eyeing a potential breakup with national vaccine guidelines, as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. overhauls federal policy. As part of a larger supplemental spending bill filed yesterday, Gov. Maura Healey proposed giving the state’s Department of Public Health authority to “decouple” local immunization recommendations and requirements from federal standards. If passed, Healey’s office said DPH could set independent standards for Massachusetts, “if the federal government fails to maintain a robust schedule of vaccine recommendations.”
- Why it matters: Typically, health insurance companies only agree to cover shots that have been recommended by an important advisory panel for the CDC. In June, Kennedy dismissed the entire panel and appointed a new slate of members who have already given credence to debunked fears about vaccines. The panel has also yet to release guidelines for COVID vaccines this fall, after the FDA dropped its recommendation for healthy adults under the age of 65 in May.
- Healey’s proposal came a day after The Boston Globe reported that state health officials have been talking to peers in Connecticut, Maine, New York and Rhode Island about coordinating vaccine guidelines. The states would base their recommendations on advice from national professional groups, like the American Academy of Pediatrics, instead of the CDC. The coordinated guidelines could increase the odds that insurers cover the shots without federal approval, experts told the Globe. (While people could also still get shots without insurance paying for it, the COVID vaccine can cost up to $200 per shot.)
- The concern: Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein stressed that any potential break from federal policy must be a group effort, adding he’s “incredibly worried” about individual states separately coming out with their own recommendations. “Even if those recommendations are fully based in science, the fact that they’re coming out differently from different states is going to infuse the pretense of politicization into the recommendation process,” Goldstein said during a meeting this week. “And so I’ve really encouraged the other state health officers — in particular in the Northeast, but anyone who will listen — to look to [groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics].”
- Zoom out: The debate comes as many Americans pass up vaccines. This past respiratory virus season, less than half of U.S. adults got a flu shot and less than a quarter got a COVID booster, according to CDC data. Meanwhile, DPH reported this week that vaccination rates among Massachusetts health care workers are falling. For both flu and (especially) COVID shots, not one health care sector (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, EMS) met the state’s 90% vaccination goal.
New perk: The Boys and Girls Club of Boston is waiving membership fees for families this school year. Currently, the annual fees are $25 dollars for children between ages 6 and 12, and $5 for teens. BGCB President and CEO Robert Lewis Jr. said it can add up for the families the club serves in Boston and Chelsea, most of whom live below the poverty level. “We don’t want the finances to be a burden in a time when parents are trying to figure out how to stretch a dollar,” he told WBUR’s Amy Sokolow.
- In other youth sports news: Things did not go great for the Braintree boys baseball team during their Little League World Series debut yesterday. They lost 13-0 to South Carolina (thanks in large part to a grand slam hitting, 75 mph-throwing pitcher on the opposing team). But it’s not over yet. Braintree plays the team from Lamar, Texas, tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the elimination bracket.
Stamp acts: The U.S. Postal Service unveiled yesterday two new Boston-themed stamps. One depicts Old North Church and the other shows a Paul Revere-esque midnight rider. They’re meant to commemorate both 250 years since the American Revolution and the Boston 2026 World Expo, a major international stamp show coming to the city next May. (Coincidentally, the official stamp release came on the 260th anniversary of the start of the Stamp Act protests in Boston.)
Heads up: The MBTA is shutting down the entire Lowell commuter rail line this weekend and next (starting each Friday at 10 p.m.) due to a bridge replacement project in Somerville. Riders have three different shuttle bus options for backup, all of which are free. Here’s a look at the shuttle routes and schedules.
P.S.— What sea creature was recently spotted off the coast of Massachusetts for the first time in almost a decade? Take a guess with our weekly Boston News Quiz.
