Hochul defies Trump administration, lets NY pharmacists give Covid shots to all
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order that enables pharmacists to administer Covid-19 vaccines to anyone who requests one, directly challenging the new restrictions imposed by the Trump administration.
The order will be in effect for 30 days but can be extended until the state legislature convenes in January.
"If you want your child to receive a Covid shot, it should be accessible to you and covered by insurance," Hochul stated during a visit to an elementary school. "Extreme times call for extreme measures."
Under the leadership of US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who is a critic of vaccines, the Food and Drug Administration has approved updated Covid vaccines only for Americans over 65 or those with certain health conditions. In prior years, the vaccines were available to the broader public.
CVS and Walgreens, two of the largest pharmacy chains in New York, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Kennedy was sharply questioned in the Senate on Thursday, including by Republicans, regarding his public statements about vaccines. Scientists broadly credit vaccines with saving millions of lives. A study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases estimated that Covid vaccines prevented 14.4 million deaths globally in their first year of use.
This week, California, Oregon, and Washington announced a "West Coast Health Alliance" to independently review vaccine data, stating they no longer trust the guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under Kennedy’s leadership. Hawaii has since joined the alliance, while Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey mandated insurers to cover vaccines endorsed by the state’s health department.
Meanwhile, Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis backed a decision by the state’s surgeon general to abolish all vaccine mandates, including those for schoolchildren.
Vaccination rates in the United States have been declining, a trend public health experts attribute to misinformation about vaccine safety and efficacy.
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