New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed an executive order designed to make sure that New Yorkers have continued access to Covid-19 vaccines following federal action that restricts their availability.
With anti-vaccine proponent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. now serving as Health and Human Services secretary for the Trump administration, on Aug. 27 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which Kennedy controls, updated its Covid-19 vaccine guidance to limit who is approved to get the vaccine. Under the new guidance, people need to be age 65 and older, or be six months and older with at least one underlying health condition that increases their risk of severe Covid-19 infection. The new guidance means that many people will need a doctor’s prescription to get the vaccine and may have to pay for vaccination themselves since most insurance will no longer pay for those that the FDA is excluding. The new federal guidance effectively put an end to pharmacies being able to offer free Covid vaccinations to anyone who walks in.
Hochul’s order allows pharmacists to administer Covid vaccination to any New Yorker, regardless of age or health vulnerability. She signed it while at an elementary school on Long Island where she was attending an event to highlight the benefits of providing youngsters with breakfast before school classes begin each morning.
“When you think about the fact that the State of New York lost nearly 86,000 of our residents to this horrible, horrible illness … and to hear that the Trump administration is basically ignoring science, ignoring health and making decisions that are just starting now that will have nothing but a negative effect on our family’s health …. I can’t sit on the side and let that happen,” Hochul said.
Hochul explained that her executive order allows pharmacists to be able to administer Covid shots for the next 30 days and it can be renewed every 30 days. In the meantime, she said the state will develop a long-term plan to overcome what she called “these reckless decisions coming out of Washington.”
Hochul emphasized that her executive order does not create a mandate for families. She said that in New York state there currently are about 600 new Covid cases each day. She said that she doesn’t understand why the federal government has taken away the choice for people to obtain the vaccine.
“I want to get this on the books and make sure that the status quo, as it existed before the federal government decided to ignore the health needs of our families before they took these steps — that the status quo remains in the State of New York,” Hochul said. “You can go into a pharmacy and not have to worry about going to a doctor’s office and getting a prescription, which is another step that I think a lot of people just don’t have time in their busy lives to handle. They can go into a pharmacy, as they’re accustomed to doing, and the pharmacist will now, as a result of this signing, be authorized to administer Covid shots to those who choose to have them.”
