Gov. Kathy Hochul extends order for access to COVID-19 vaccine
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sept. 5 in Port Washington with an executive order she signed allowing pharmacies to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine. On Sunday Hochul extended the order until early next month. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp
New Yorkers will continue to have access to the latest COVID-19 vaccines, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Sunday, even as guidance on the vaccines and availability has been upended in recent months by the Trump administration.
The governor said she was extending an executive order signed a month ago that authorized pharmacists to administer COVID-19 shots, regardless of the federal government’s newly restrictive guidelines.
The Food and Drug Administration narrowed approval for the COVID-19 vaccine last summer to those at higher risk from the virus, a reversal of long-standing policy and practice. Those restrictions created logistical challenges and confusion for medical practitioners, pharmacists and people seeking to get immunized, Newsday previously reported.
Pharmacists began to turn away people who wanted the vaccine but did not fall within the federal government’s restricted eligibility requirements. The FDA decision prompted Hochul to issue an executive order that ensured people under 65 who did not have underlying health problems could still get the shot.
The order is now extended through early November. The governor's new order noted that "vaccination remains a critical tool to prevent severe illness and transmission" and the Trump administration’s vaccine policies "continue to jeopardize the State’s ability to support public health and safety."
Hochul said that "even as Washington continues its misguided campaign against science, I will always do what I can to ensure New Yorkers have access to the vaccines and information families need to make decisions about their health care — with no exceptions."
"I will sign as many extensions of this executive order as I need to. We will always let science lead the way — not politics," Hochul added.
New York State Health Commissioner James McDonald called on the federal government to make the COVID-19 shot available through the Vaccines for Children program, which provides free immunizations to children who are uninsured or enrolled in Medicaid and to all Indigenous children. At the moment states cannot order COVID-19 vaccines through the federally funded program.
He said in the meantime, the department of health "will keep working to remove barriers and protect families’ access to lifesaving immunization. Vaccines save lives, and we will always stand with New Yorkers to safeguard their health."
Over the next month, Hochul said she will work with lawmakers on "a legislative solution to ensure permanent and continuing access to vaccines," including insurance coverage for those immunizations.
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