Mass. issues its own COVID-19 vaccine recommendations
Before the federal government released its guidance, state public health officials published COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for the 2025-2026 respiratory illness season on Wednesday.
"Those recommendations say that everyone in Massachusetts is recommended to have a vaccine if they are six months of age and older," Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein told reporters Wednesday. There's a particular emphasis for those with underlying medical conditions or who live or work in an area of high-risk exposure, he said.
The new guidelines say that healthy adults under 65 and children "may" receive the vaccine. Those who "should" be vaccinated include: health care workers, immunocompromised people, pregnant people, those older than 65, and all children aged 6 to 23 months. The full recommendations can be found on the state website , https://www.mass.gov/.
The state's guidelines come on the eve of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting Thursday and Friday that is expected to include votes on recommendations for the COVID-19 vaccine as well as vaccines for hepatitis C and measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV). The recommendations must be approved by the CDC director.
In August, the Food and Drug Administration approved the new COVID-19 vaccine only for specific groups of people: those at risk for complications from COVID and those older than 65.
In response, Massachusetts took steps to make COVID vaccines more widely accessible. Insurance companies are required to cover vaccinations recommended by the state, Gov. Maura T. Healey announced earlier this month. Goldstein issued a standing order that allows pharmacists to vaccinate residents age 5 and older against COVID.
"Bottom line in Massachusetts," Healey said on Wednesday, "if you want a vaccine, you will get a vaccine."
The state also joined a collaborative of Northeast states that's working to align their recommendations, Healey and Goldstein said.
"States are having to step forward and fill the void left by the total abdication of responsibility by the federal government," Healey said. "That's what's happening here to be clear."
Healey again took aim at the federal government when a reporter asked if she worried about setting a precedent of the state going against the federal government. "I didn't start this. The federal government started this," Healey said. "Because (President) Donald Trump put a conspiracy theorist in charge of HHS (Health and Human Services), we are where we are. And it's most unfortunate." She was referring to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is skeptical of vaccines.
Goldstein said that the state recommendations took into account data from across the country and align with advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians.
"What I want everyone to take from this is to understand there was a process to come to these recommendations. It's a process backed by science and evidence," Goldstein said.
"What we know is that vaccines protect our children, our families and our communities from very serious disease," Dr. Sarah Toomey, chief safety and quality officer at Boston Children's Hospital, said at the press conference Wednesday. "This really is extraordinarily important that people continue to get vaccinated (and) continue to follow the science."
more news from Western Massachusetts
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
