New York lawmakers are pushing to broaden access to COVID-19 vaccines as President Donald Trump’s administration adds new restrictions.
Several legislators have introduced bills to reduce the state’s reliance on the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine which vaccines should be available and to whom.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been skeptical of vaccines, putting him at odds with established public health leaders in New York and elsewhere. He oversees the federal Food and Drug Administration, which approves vaccines, as well as the CDC.
The state lawmakers say they want New Yorkers to be able to easily access vaccines at pharmacies and doctors’ offices and can no longer trust the federal government to act based on medical science. Lawmakers want the state health department to proffer rules on vaccine eligibility, setting up a state-level system on a matter that has been handled by the federal government for decades.
“Our whole vaccination system is being gutted right now,” said Assemblymember Jennifer Rajkumar, a Queens Democrat. “In New York state, we have to stand up for the health of New Yorkers, and we cannot let the Trump administration stand in the way.”
Rajkumar said she is drafting legislation that would remove reliance on recommendations from the CDC and its influential Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Kennedy in June replaced the members of the panel with vaccine skeptics, arguing the sitting members had conflicts of interest. Medical groups denounced the move.
The FDA last week approved the latest round of COVID boosters but limited access to people 65 and older or who have underlying medical conditions. Kennedy said the limits balanced “science, safety and common sense.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended the shots for a broader range of children, breaking from the federal guidance. Recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and CDC on COVID boosters are expected soon.
The CDC has been in turmoil. Last month, Kennedy forced out Director Susan Monarez, who is challenging her dismissal, and several top deputies resigned their posts in protest. Nine former CDC leaders penned a public essay saying Kennedy’s recent actions were unacceptable.
“We have a fundamental responsibility, whether one’s a physician, a public health specialist or a politician, to protect our children from preventable illnesses. If the federal government is not going to adhere to a social contract, then the states should take charge.”Dr. Howard Zucker, who served as state health commissioner during the COVID emergency
A Health and Human Services spokesperson said states controlled by Democrats pushed for school lockdowns and other pandemic-era restrictions that “completely eroded the American people’s trust in public health agencies.”
“ACIP [the advisory committee] remains the scientific body guiding immunization recommendations in this country, and HHS will ensure policy is based on rigorous evidence and Gold Standard Science, not the failed politics of the pandemic,” spokesperson Emily Hilliard said.
Dr. Howard Zucker, who served as state health commissioner during the COVID emergency, said it was a “very precarious time for public health.”
“We have a fundamental responsibility, whether one’s a physician, a public health specialist or a politician, to protect our children from preventable illnesses,” Zucker said. “If the federal government is not going to adhere to a social contract, then the states should take charge.”
The recent CDC tumult has prompted at least three new pieces of legislation, although the state Legislature isn’t scheduled to convene until January. Assemblymember Amy Paulin, who chairs the chamber’s health committee, said she expected there would be more work “to bring some rationality to immunization policy” since “the federal government is not a trusted partner on public health practice anymore.”
Zucker endorsed a bill introduced this week by state Sen. John Liu, which let the health commissioner offer a blanket prescription letting pharmacists distribute COVID vaccines. State law currently allows this only if the order is in line with recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
“This legislation doesn't require anybody to receive the vaccine. It empowers the pharmacies to administer the vaccine,” Liu said.
Most people now receive vaccinations at pharmacies. But some chains, including CVS, require a prescription for many customers seeking a seasonal COVID booster vaccination. That’s a break from recent years, when shots were broadly available.
New York has some of the country's strongest school vaccination requirements, but no requirement that students receive a COVID or flu shot. The state in 2019 eliminated religious exemptions, prompting backlash from people like Rita Palma, a Long Island activist. She said she opposes Liu’s bill and that vaccination requirements are motivated by major pharmaceutical companies.
“It's the heavy hand of the heavy hand, the heavy foot, the heavy everything of New York, on our bodies,” said Palma, who leads the group My Kids, My Choice.
Spokespeople for the state health department didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Avery Cohen, a spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul, said she is “firmly committed to protecting access to immunization while continuing to provide evidence-based information about vaccine safety and efficacy to New Yorkers across the state.” The Democratic governor is currently reviewing state laws and regulations, Cohen said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, also a Democrat, announced Wednesday he is joining Oregon and Washington to create a new body that would issue health guidance. Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said he would seek to repeal state laws requiring school vaccinations.
Zucker, the former New York health commissioner, said DeSantis’ proposal was dangerous.
“What Florida is doing, and [what] the changes in the ACIP are doing, and what RFK Jr. is doing, is truly setting the nation up for another outbreak,” he said.
