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

BOSTON — Massachusetts insurance companies will be forced to cover the cost of COVID boosters, flu and RSV vaccines this winter, in what could be considered defiance of recent directives from Health and Human Services Director Robert Kennedy Jr. and the Trump Administration.

Gov. Maura Healey said on Thursday that Bay State insurers will have to cover vaccines as recommended by the state Department of Public Health, and not rely on the Centers for Disease Control for those recommendations.

She said the move will "ensure that Massachusetts residents can afford the vaccines they need and want to keep themselves and others healthy, even if the federal government issues narrower recommendations."

Massachusetts becomes the first state in the nation to impose its own vaccine coverage mandates.

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Healey said the mandate applies to coverage of respiratory virus vaccines, such as COVID, flu and RSV, and the routine child vaccines, such as measles, chickenpox and Hepatitis B.

"Massachusetts has the best health care in the world," Healey said on Thursday. "We won't let Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy get between patients and their doctors. When the federal government fails to protect public health, Massachusetts will step up.

"The actions we are announcing today will make sure people can continue to get the vaccines they need and want in Massachusetts."

Healey also took to social media on Thursday to mock attempts in Florida to eliminate all vaccine mandates for children in that state.

"I don't think measles is a souvenir anyone wants to bring home from Disney World," she posted on X/Twitter.

DPH Commissioner Robbie Goldstein issued a standing order to allow pharmacies to continue to provide COVID vaccines to Massachusetts residents 5 and older after CVS and Walgreens said last week that they would not offer them in the Bay State because the CDC no longer recommended them.

Children under 5 can receive the vaccine through their pediatricians.

Healey said that, as a result of her actions, CVS and Walgreens are working to make COVID vaccine appointments available in Massachusetts as soon as possible.

Healey also said on Thursday that she has entered a multi-state collaborative in the Northeast to develop what she called "evidence-based recommendations on vaccinations, disease surveillance, emergency preparedness and supporting public health labs."

These are responsibilities that have been traditionally left to the CDC.

"Vaccines save lives and protect families — period," State Sen. President Karen Spilka said. "The Healey Administration's actions will help ensure federal drama does not affect our access to vaccines that are essential to public health. In Massachusetts, we believe healthcare decisions should be made by you and your provider.

"If you want a vaccine, you should be able to get one easily. These are the right steps to take."

The Food and Drug Administration last week said it was changing COVID booster vaccine recommendations to include only those for adults 65 years and older, as well as individuals ages 5 through 64 with at least one underlying condition that puts them at high risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19.2.

Industry analysts said the FDA recommendations put in doubt whether many insurance companies would cover vaccinations for those who do not fall into one of those two categories.

Kennedy Jr. said in an op-ed published on the HHS website last week that the changing mandates are part of efforts to "restore faith in the CDC."

"Dysfunction produced irrational policy during Covid: cloth masks on toddlers, arbitrary 6-foot distancing, boosters for healthy children, prolonged school closings, economy-crushing lockdowns, and the suppression of low-cost therapeutics in favor of experimental and ineffective drugs," Kennedy Jr. wrote. "The toll was devastating. America is home to 4.2 percent of the world's population but suffered 19 percent of COVID deaths."

(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.)