Group of States Back Covid Shots for Kids, Pregnant Women (1)

Democratic-led states are recommending that young kids and pregnant individuals receive updated Covid-19 vaccines in preparation for the respiratory virus season, countering recent federal policy changes by US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Top health officials in California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington said Wednesday they will continue to recommend that Covid-19 vaccines be available to all persons 6 months and older, including those who are planning pregnancy, pregnant, postpartum, or lactating.

The guidance is included in a 2025-2026 respiratory virus season immunization schedule from the states’ newly formed West Coast Health Alliance and challenges Kennedy’s move earlier this year to remove federal Covid vaccine recommendations for healthy kids and pregnant women.

“Our states are united in putting science, safety, and transparency first — and in protecting families with clear, credible vaccine guidance,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said in a joint statement with Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D), Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson (D), and Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D).

Massachusetts and the multi-state Northeast Public Health Collaborative announced similar vaccine guidance Wednesday based on reviews of available scientific data and vaccine recommendations from leading medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

“We are protecting our residents by providing recommendations for COVID vaccinations that are grounded in evidence and science, driven by equity, and shaped by the lived experiences of our communities,” Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said in a press release, adding that “vaccines remain the most effective public health intervention of the past century.”

Newsom also announced Wednesday that he signed into law legislation (AB 144) requiring that the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations in effect Jan. 1—before the start of President Donald Trump‘s second term—serve as a baseline for future California public health recommendations. The legislation also mandates that state-sponsored health insurers consider vaccine recommendations from health professional groups in coverage decisions.

The moves come a day before ACIP, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s key vaccine recommendation panel, is scheduled to begin meeting to discuss potential updates to the federal childhood immunization schedule, including the Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, shots. Kennedy earlier this year fired all members of ACIP and replaced them with individuals who have questioned the safety of vaccines, particularly Covid shots.

Former CDC Director Susan Monarez, who was fired from the post after disagreement with Kennedy over vaccine policy, said in a congressional hearing Wednesday that the health secretary intends to alter the childhood vaccine schedule this month.

The West Coast states also included in their immunization schedule recommendations that all individuals ages 6 months and older get updated flu shots, and that all infants younger than 8 months be protected from RSV with either a prenatal RSV vaccine or infant dose of the nirsevimab or clesrovimab immunizatons. These recommendations are consistent with the latest ACIP guidance for influenza and RSV.

US Department of Health and Human Services Communications Director Andrew Nixon criticized the state recommendations Wednesday, accusing state leaders of building on pandemic-era policies like school lockdowns and vaccine mandates that he said “completely eroded the American people’s trust in public health agencies.”

“ACIP 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,” Nixon said in an emailed statement.

America’s Health Insurance Plans, in a statement Tuesday, said that insurers would continue covering all currently recommended vaccines—including updated flu and Covid-19 shots—with no cost-sharing through the end of 2026.

But states and health insurers have limited influence over the insurance coverage for the more than half of working-age adults that receive insurance through their employer, since an estimated 136 million people are covered through plans regulated under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Some employer groups predict that vaccine coverage will remain largely unchanged, but the final say rests with each individual business.