Healey order makes COVID boosters more accessible in Mass.

COVID

The governor’s new standing order enables pharmacists to administer the boosters to “all eligible persons” without CDC approval.

Under Governor Maura Healey’s direction, the Department of Public Health (DPH) issued a standing order Wednesday to ensure that anyone in Massachusetts over the age of 5 can get a COVID-19 booster shot despite federal limitations.

The standing order authorizes pharmacists in Massachusetts to administer the COVID vaccine to “all eligible persons.” Standing orders for physicians to determine eligibility and record administration of the vaccine can be found on the DPH’s website.

So far, the FDA has only approved the newest round of seasonal COVID vaccines for people aged 65 and older or younger people who have a health condition that makes them more vulnerable to the virus. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. previously announced in May that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would no longer recommend the vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women.

“No matter what happens with Robert Kennedy and the federal government, we are going to make sure vaccines remain available in Massachusetts,” Healey said in a statement Wednesday. “At my direction, our Commissioner of Public Health issued an order on Friday to allow pharmacies to continue to provide COVID vaccines to Massachusetts residents. We are working to ensure that all pharmacies make the vaccine available as soon as possible.”

The new restrictions are part of a long string of anti-vaccine actions from Kennedy, who fired every member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices earlier this year. In August, Kennedy pulled $500 million of funding and canceled 22 projects to develop vaccines using mRNA technology.

The effects of Kennedy’s movements against the COVID vaccine are already being felt in some states, including Massachusetts. CVS confirmed last week that the pharmacy chain would not be offering the vaccine in 16 states or in the District of Columbia due to “the current regulatory environment.”

The lack of a recommendation from the Advisory Committee has made it drastically more difficult to get a booster shot in some states. As long as the standing order remains in effect, however, pharmacists in Massachusetts will be able to administer the shot without the CDC panel’s approval.

Through the order, pharmacists can administer Moderna’s mNEXSPIKE vaccine and Novavax’s Nuvaxovid vaccine for people 12 and older. For children ages 5 through 11, they can administer Moderna’s Spikevax vaccine or Pfizer’s COMIRNATY vaccine.