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Mass. releases COVID-19 vaccine guidance day before CDC vaccine meeting

Children between six months and 23 months "should receive" the vaccine, while healthy children and healthy adults "may receive" the shot, according to Mass. health officials.

FILE - Pharmacist Kenni Clark injects Robert Champion, of Lawrence, Mass., with a booster dosage of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in 2021. AP Photo/Charles Krupa

By Molly Farrar

September 17, 2025

2 minutes to read

The day before the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee is expected to meet, Massachusetts released its own guidance, recommending that children under the age of six months to 23 months and all adults to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The state Department of Public Health released this year’s recommendations Wednesday ahead of the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ meeting in Atlanta Thursday and Friday. CDC officials are expected to discuss the childhood vaccine schedule, discussing the Hepatitis B, combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella, and COVID vaccines, the agenda says.

“We are not going to let Donald Trump or Robert Kennedy take away your ability to make your own health care decisions,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement. “We are taking this action today so the people of Massachusetts know that you will continue to be able to get the vaccines you want and need – no matter what happens at the federal level.”

Healthy children, adults ‘may receive’ the vaccine, while other populations ‘should’

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on social media in May that COVID-19 vaccines would no longer be recommended for healthy children and pregnant women.

However, DPH is recommending that children between six to 23 months of age and pregnant people should get the vaccine, according to the guidelines released Wednesday.

DPH also said adults 65 years and older should receive two doses of the COVID vaccines six months apart this year, and adults and children with medical conditions associated with higher risk of COVID should also get the shot.

However, healthy children above the age of 2, adolescents, and adults “may receive” one dose of this year’s COVID-19 vaccine, DPH said. Healthy children who have never been vaccinated against COVID-19 should get a shot this year.

Other populations that should get the vaccine include children and adolescents in long-term care facilities or other congregate settings, DPH said. Moderately to severely immunocompromised adults should receive at least two doses. People who are pregnant, recently pregnant, could become pregnant, or breastfeeding should also get the vaccine, health officials said.

All healthcare workers should also get vaccinated against COVID, DPH said, independent of age or any underlying medical conditions.

Healey urges feds to follow suit

Healey called on the CDC’s ACIP “to adopt recommendations that align with the evidence-based approach we are taking,” her statement said.

The recommendations come, in part, from the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, a regional group of public health agencies, which followed recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

“Vaccines remain the most effective public health intervention of the past century – they have saved millions of lives,” state Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said in a statement. “Today, 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.”

Under Healey’s direction, DPH issued a standing order earlier this month to authorize Massachusetts pharmacists to administer a Moderna or Pfizer COVID vaccine to all eligible people. State-issued health insurance plans will cover the vaccines, DPH said in a bulletin.

“This is a defining moment when public health must step forward and stand firmly with the communities we serve,” Healey said. “No matter what happens, we will continue to take every step we can to follow science and protect health care access in Massachusetts.”