Massachusetts, New York Break With FDA On Covid Vaccine Limitations

The Boston Globe: Massachusetts Insurers Will Cover Costs Of State-Recommended Vaccines, Governor Says
Massachusetts became the first state in the country Thursday to require insurers to cover the cost of COVID shots and other inoculations recommended by state health officials, in another move to counter the Trump administration’s efforts to undo the long national consensus on vaccines. The rift was prompted by new federal limitations on who should receive COVID vaccines under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that have created confusion among consumers, pharmacies, and physicians and made it difficult for even those with demonstrated need to get booster shots. (Laughlin and Schmeiszer, 9/4)

The New York Times: Hochul To Sign Order To Get Around U.S. Limits On Covid Vaccine 
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. (Goldstein, 9/4)

The Hill: Hawaii Joining West Coast Vaccine Alliance
Hawaii is joining a coalition of West Coast, Democratic-led states forming a new public health alliance in opposition to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. California, Oregon and Washington state announced the alliance Wednesday, which officials say will provide “evidence-based immunization guidance” rooted in “safety, efficacy, and transparency” to ensure residents receive “credible information free from political interference,” according to a statement from California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). (O’Connell-Domenech, 9/4)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Halts Giving COVID-19 Booster Vaccines Amid HHS Uncertainty
Big pharmacies and public health clinics in Georgia are not yet giving this year’s COVID-19 booster shots, or are putting new restrictions in place, amid vaccine uncertainty under Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy. Doctors hope the confusion will be resolved in a couple of weeks, when a federal committee appointed by Kennedy is scheduled to decide on whether to recommend the shot. It is not certain how the committee will vote. (Hart, 9/4)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Vaccine Exemption Form Is Now Downloadable 
Texas parents will no longer have to wait weeks for a vaccine exemption form to be mailed to them if they want their children opted out of state-required immunizations to attend school. This week, the state health agency quietly unveiled the new downloadable vaccine exemption form, the result of state Rep. Lacey Hull’s House Bill 1586 which went into effect on Monday. Along with the form, the Texas Department of State Health Services also published a document listing the benefits and risks of immunization. (Langford, 9/4)

The 19th: Florida Officials Want To Eliminate School Vaccine Mandates. It's Not That Simple. 
Republican officials in Florida announced this week that they want to eliminate all vaccine mandates for schools. It’s not that simple: It will require action from state lawmakers. But the announcement raises several questions about the future spread of infectious diseases and the disproportionate impact on infants, children, the elderly and immunocompromised people in the state and country. (Rodriguez and Nittle, 9/4)

The Hill: 'Florida's Going To Become A Hotbed Of Transmission': Former Biden COVID Adviser
Michael Osterholm, a former Biden administration adviser on COVID-19, said Wednesday that “Florida’s going to become a hotbed of transmission” after Sunshine State officials announced they will seek to make the state the first in the U.S. to officially remove school vaccine mandates. “I would have to tell you, as a parent or a grandparent, I wouldn’t want my kids to go into Florida in the years ahead, to go to Walt Disney World, or any place like that, because Florida’s going to become a hotbed of transmission by eliminating this particular mandate, and I think — unfortunately timely for that to be true,” Osterholm told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on his show. (Suter, 9/4)

In other vaccine developments —

The New York Times: Health Dept. Plans Vaccine Poll Run By Trump Ally’s Firm 
The Department of Health and Human Services is preparing to issue a no-bid contract for a firm run by an ally of President Trump to poll Americans on their “perspectives around vaccines.” The move follows a wide-reaching effort by the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to dismantle parts of the nation’s health infrastructure that develop and make recommendations for the use of vaccines. A day before the contract proposal was posted last week, Mr. Kennedy moved to fire the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because of disagreements over his vaccine policies. The polling firm, HarrisX, is part of Stagwell, a marketing company led by Mark Penn, a former political adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton who has now become a vocal supporter of Mr. Trump. (Cameron, 9/4)

Stat: NIH Whistleblower On Vaccines Says 'The Story Needed To Be Told' 
Whistleblower complaints by two former top National Institutes of Health officials offer their inside accounts of the Trump administration’s targeting of vaccine science at the world’s largest funder of biomedical research and the reach of Matthew Memoli, the agency’s deputy director, in enacting those policies. (Oza and Molteni, 9/4)