I think the upshot of everything that has happened this week — many states implementing orders, and the ACIP leaving it up to individual choice and voting against requiring prescriptions — is that COVID vaccines will be more accessible to everyone than has been the case recently. Good news.

So basically RFK Jr’s antivax ACIP were unable to make any big changes to vaccine access because they were too incompetent. We should all take this as a win I guess…

Today, Maryland took additional actions to protect COVID access: - Issued a standing order so vaccines can be administered based on guidance developed by medical professional societies instead of the federal government - Confirmed they have joined the Northeast Public Health Collaborative

It could have been worse, but things are still confusing. One of my main take aways is that it is still a very good idea for states to pass their own laws to make things crystal clear and protect COVID vaccine access.

Trump contradicts RFK Jr, strongly endorsing the COVID vaccine: "I had the vaccine. I was very happy with it. Here I am, right?" But he still supports RFK Jr's bogus autism studies.

“This vote provides for immunization coverage through all payment mechanisms including entitlement programs such as Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid, and Medicare, as well as insurance plans through the federal health insurance marketplace,” a HHS spokesperson said.

There is still massive confusion around the practical outcome of ACIP’s vote on COVID19 vaccines today. Some are reporting that ACIP made no recommendations at all. This is the exact wording of what they voted “yes” on. Shared clinical decisionmaking could mean talking to a pharmacist.

The ACIP has voted AGAINST requiring a prescription for COVID-19 vaccination. With a vote of 6 yes and 6 no, the decision went to the ACIP chair, who voted no.

Novavax news: A Sanofi rep said at ACIP this morning that it has begun shipping, and a Sanofi spokesman confirms that to me. This is in line with the company's statement last week that it would begin shipping this week.

ACIP is in the middle of its series of votes on covid vaccines. The recommendation they're now discussing says “state and local jurisdictions should require a prescription” for covid vax and one panelist proposed an amendment to take the prescription requirement out, which would leave... nothing

ACIP members have voted to update the current pediatric and adult immunization schedules for FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines. The vote was a unanimous yes.

Updated map of the Northeast Public Health Collaborative. Health departments who have officially confirmed that they are part of the collaborative include Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and New York City.

For those wondering why New York City and New York State are both listed, they have independent health departments. Sometimes there’s a lot of political tension between city and state (one of the reasons NY did so poorly early in the pandemic), so it’s good to see they are working together here!

IT'S OFFICIAL: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York State, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and New York City have formed the Northeast Public Health Collaborative. The collaborative will issue their own vaccine recommendations and coordinate public health efforts.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott has issued a standing order that allows pharmacies to administer the update COVID vaccines without a prescription.

The Council of the District of Columbia has passed a measure to allow COVID vaccines to be administered without a prescription.

AHIP, the country’s biggest health insurance association said its members will continue to cover updated COVID and flu vaccines through the end of 2026. AHIP covers over 200M people & includes Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Centene, Aetna, Elevance, Humana, Kaiser Permanente, Molina, and Cigna.

Dean Sidelinger of the Oregon Health Authority: “Effective Wednesday, September 17, pharmacists in Oregon will have the authority to continue to administer COVID vaccines without a prescription.” FINALLY Oregon makes accessing COVID vaccines easier!

Dr. Deb Houry, former CDC chief medical officer: “I have many that won’t speak about vaccines now and have removed their names off of papers. They don’t wish to present publicly anymore because they feel they were personally targeted because of misinformation.” This is frightening.

Beware: RFK Jr’s agenda here is to claim that Long COVID is only caused by vaccines, and not the coronavirus.

You asked for it! We delivered Quack-O-Grams to our members of Congress urging them to #ImpeachRFK, and get that Quack out of office! There's still time for you to get in on this fluffy, feathery action: Send your own duck at zurl.co/W1ZnB#ImpeachRFKand keep the momentum going! 🦆

EXCLUSIVE: A summary of possible CDC funding based on the President’s Budget, the House markup, and the Senate markup. Red: programs Trump wants entirely slashed. Yellow: programs Trump requested substantial cuts. Blue: flat or increased funding. What does all this mean? 🧵

Here are the first vaccine recommendations issued by the West Coast Health Alliance, which includes California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii:

Oregon’s Board of Pharmacy is holding an emergency meeting today to discuss a change in protocol for vaccine administration around fall respiratory viruses. That change could allow pharmacists to administer vaccines without a prescription, regardless of what ACIP decides.

BIG: California has passed a new law, AB 144, that formally divorces the state’s vaccine laws from the authority wielded by the federal government, and allows the state to base future immunization guidance on credible, independent medical organizations instead.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has issued an executive order to protect vaccine access. The order will ensure health insurance plans cover COVID vaccines and provides guidance instructing pharmacists and other health care providers to prescribe and administer them.

MA Gov Healey statement before ACIP: “We are not going to let Trump or Kennedy take away your ability to make your own health care decisions. We are taking this action so the people of MA will continue to be able to get the vaccines you want and need – no matter what happens at the federal level.”

Bill Cassidy behaved today as he should have behaved during RFK Jr.’s confirmation. The problem is that now he can’t unring the bell. His actions in confirming Kennedy and convincing others to do so has already caused irreparable damage to science and public health in the United States.

Dr. Monarez: "Kennedy called the CDC the most corrupt federal agency in the world. He emphasized CDC employees were horrible people. He said CDC employees were killing children. He said CDC employees were bought by pharma. He said CDC forced people to wear masks like a dictatorship."

former CDC official Dr. Houry: "I first learned that the secretary had changed our CDC covid vaccine guidance on an X social media post. CDC scientists have still not seen the scientific data or justification for this change. That is not gold standard science."

Monarez: "Kennedy demanded 2 things of me that were were inconsistent w/ my oath of office. He directed me to commit in advance to approving every ACIP recommendation regardless of the scientific evidence. He also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause"

Regardless of the disgraceful nonsense we will likely hear from this administration in the coming days on vaccine “recommendations,” Americas healthcare insurers issued a joint statement tonight saying coverage for Covid and flu shots will remain unchanged from prior years. Speaks for itself.

Tragic and alarming: From the states collecting data, 68% of U.S. counties and jurisdictions have immunization rates below 95% for the MMR vaccine — the level of herd immunity that is required to stop the spread of measles.

Extremely biased for obvious reasons, but D by a landslide.

When you get a vaccine or a medical checkup, we expect the healthcare worker to wash their hands and wear gloves. We should think the same about wearing masks in medical settings. Viruses can spread pre-symptomatically; masks are another effective infection control measure.

I feel like “experts say they are wrong” has to be one of the most uttered phrases of 2025

Those who are waiting for Novavax, and those in states with more restrictions, may not be able to get COVID vaccines yet are in a tricky situation. Please hang in there! While there’s a good chance the antivax CDC panel may try to further restrict access, it’s unlikely they can pull them entirely.

Even if you aren’t masking anywhere else it still makes sense to wear a mask in medical settings & pharmacies because there’s a greater chance of being close to someone contagious & there are more people who are at higher risk in these places. Masking in these settings both protects you & others.

This week, a group of experts will step up in a big way to ensure that science goes on, despite Trump administration cuts to Federal science advice. They join several other independent science efforts fighting back. 🧵 blog.ucs.org/gretchen-gol...

I will never understand people who go to get a COVID vaccine but don’t wear a mask while getting one. It takes a while for COVID vaccine protection to kick in, you are still at risk while you are getting vaccinated and several days afterwards.

I appreciate that Gov Hochul has implemented orders to protect vaccine access, but she has supported mask bans and is not wearing a mask while getting vaccinated. “Believing in science” does not mean picking and choosing only what it is convenient for you.

This is the committee who will advise the CDC on COVID and other vaccines this week. Not good.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has issued an executive order to ensure COVID vaccines are accessible to everyone and insurers continue to cover them.

PSA: If you haven’t yet, it may be a good idea to get your COVID shot this week. Reports suggest that CDC may further restrict COVID vaccine access to people aged 75 and up, unless you have an condition. The committee that advises the CDC on vaccines meets this Thursday.

As I wrote about for @motherjones.com, people are already crossing state lines to get the Covid vaccine—which may become more common if the CDC vaccine advisory committee recommends limiting them this week. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Stephen Colbert's Emmy victory speech: "Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it. I have never loved my country more desperately. Stay strong, be brave, and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor!"

California is devising a plan to create their own National Institutes of Health to counter federal cuts to science research.

The jersey Anthony Rizzo wore at his Wrigley Field retirement ceremony today was signed by all the cancer patients he has visited 😭

🚨 Today is the LAST DAY you can leave a public comment for the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, which meets Sep 18. Reports suggest they may falsely link vaccines to child deaths and restrict vaccines to ages 75 and up. You can submit a written comment here: www.regulations.gov/document/CDC...

UPDATE: At least 19 states have issued orders to protect COVID vaccine access including AZ, CO, CT, DE, IL, KY, MA, MD, ME, MN, NC, NV, NJ, NM, NY, PA, RI, VA, WA. Almost all orders allow pharmacies to give vaccines without a prescription, some states have taken steps to ensure insurance coverage.