In an effort to ensure more New Yorkers can get the latest Covid vaccines, Gov. Kathy Hochul is planning to sign an executive order that would authorize pharmacists to provide the shot to almost anyone who wants it, the governor’s office said Thursday.
The executive order is intended to undo limits that the federal government has imposed. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved updated versions of the Covid vaccine, but authorized them only for people 65 and older or for younger people who have an underlying medical condition that makes Covid-19 more dangerous. Children remain eligible if a medical provider is consulted.
The restrictions are different from those in past years, when the Covid vaccine was generally available to adults without underlying conditions. Public health experts say the change is linked to a broader campaign against vaccines — and particularly mRNA vaccines like the most popular Covid shots — being waged by the secretary of health and human services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The planned order comes as a number of Democratic-controlled states, including California, Oregon and Washington State, are exploring a range of efforts to promote vaccines and issue recommendations, independent of federal policy.
“In the wake of relentless uncertainty and political attacks on science coming out of Washington, Governor Hochul is taking action to protect New Yorkers,” a spokeswoman for Ms. Hochul, Kara Cumoletti, said in a statement. “She will sign an executive order allowing pharmacists to prescribe and administer Covid-19 vaccines, so families who want protection can get it quickly, safely, and close to home.”
The precise language of the executive order had not been finalized by late Thursday afternoon, but it would authorize pharmacists to administer Covid vaccines to anyone over 3 years of age, without a prescription, according to an administration official.
A spokeswoman for CVS said that in New York, its pharmacists would for now require a prescription before administering the latest Covid vaccine. “Right now, we can only administer the updated Covid-19 vaccine to patients — regardless of age — if they have a prescription from an authorized prescriber (that includes 65+),” the CVS Health spokeswoman, Amy Thibault, wrote in an email. It was not clear how the governor’s order would affect the company’s stance.
In an interview, Brad Hutton, a former state health official, said it remained to be seen to what degree insurance plans would cover vaccinations administered under the executive order.
Benjamin Oreskes contributed reporting.
Joseph Goldstein covers health care in New York for The Times, following years of criminal justice and police reporting.
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