New York governor issues order to bypass Trump administration’s Covid vaccine limits

“If you want your child to have a Covid shot, it should be available to you and covered by insurance,” Hochul said during a visit to an elementary school. “Extreme times call for extreme measures.”

Under US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a critic of vaccines, the Food and Drug Administration has approved updated Covid vaccines only for Americans aged over 65 or those with certain health conditions. In previous years, the shots were available to the wider public.

CVS and Walgreens, two of the biggest pharmacy chains in New York, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kennedy faced sharp questioning in the Senate on Thursday, including from Republicans, over his public claims about vaccines. Scientists broadly credit vaccines with saving millions of lives. A study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases estimated that Covid vaccines prevented 14.4 million deaths globally in their first year of use.

California, Oregon and Washington this week announced a “West Coast Health Alliance” to review vaccine data independently, saying they no longer trust 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 ordered insurers to cover vaccines backed by the state’s health department.

Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, supported a decision by the state’s surgeon general to end all vaccine mandates, including those for schoolchildren.

Vaccination rates in the United States have been falling, a trend public health experts link to misinformation about vaccine safety and effectiveness.