Gov. Healey Slams Trump, RFK Jr. As MA Calls For COVID-19 Vaccines For All Over 6 Months

Updated 3:30 p.m.

MASSACHUSETTS — All Massachusetts residents ages 6 months and older are recommended to get a COVID-19 vaccine this winter as part of Gov. Maura Healey's unprecedented move to break with federal government advisories when it comes to vaccine administration and the potential impact on insurance coverage amid what she calls U.S. Secretary of Health Human Service Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "anti-vaccine and anti-science views."

The Healey administration said on Wednesday that the guidance reflects a consensus statement from the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, a group of state public health agencies across the region, that conflicts with the Federal Drug Administration's recommendation this summer that the approved vaccines were recommended only for those 65 years or older, and those 6 months or older with at least one underlying health condition.

• MA Gov. Maura Healey Defies President Trump, RFK Jr. On Vaccine Mandates

Industry experts said the FDA recommendation could influence whether otherwise healthy adults would have access to the vaccine — though Kennedy has said that anyone who wants a vaccine will still be able to get one — and whether insurance companies would cover those costs.

"Whatever happens in Washington," Healey said during a Wednesday news conference, "Massachusetts is going to make sure we are providing and protecting for your public health. We are going to make sure that vaccines are available to people in Massachusetts.

"We are making sure that public health is backed by science here in Massachusetts."

Healey said the state vaccine mandate applies to the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as childhood vaccines such as measles, mumps and chicken pox.

"And it is going to stay that way," she said. "We are the healthcare leader in this country. And we're not going to let Donald Trump or RFK Jr. stand in the way of patients and the care that they need and want."

Healey said her actions come at a time when "states are having to step forward and fill the void left by the total abdication of responsibility from the federal government.

"That's what's happening here — to be clear," she said.

The Massachusetts guidance says the COVID-19 vaccine is also recommended for those who are pregnant or lactating, as well as for those who are immunocompromised. The guidance says that pregnant women "may be vaccinated in any trimester," that there is "no need to stop or delay breastfeeding," and there is "no need to delay pregnancy after vaccination."

"We have broad agreement across the Northeast on these recommendations," Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said during the news conference. "And also on the federal government going back to what it was before. To recognize the power of the federal government when it comes to vaccine recommendations and vaccine policy. To understand the history that exist there over 50 years of the federal government's leading on vaccine policy. I hope we go back there."

"But in this moment, we can't trust what's coming out of the CDC."

• How Shifting Vaccine Policy Could Affect MA School-Age Children
• New COVID-19 Vaccine Restrictions: What It Means For MA Residents

Healey said her administration was issuing the guidance prior to the scheduled meeting of the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Thursday and Friday of this week to review data and vote on national vaccine recommendations.

"We hope that they do the right thing and follow the science," Healey said. "I urge them to do so."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)