Overview

• The executive order directs the Department of Health to build a state-based safety net similar to the Vaccines for Children program to provide free shots to eligible kids, with officials estimating coverage for roughly 1.5 million children.
• Medicaid and private insurers must cover vaccines approved by the FDA and endorsed by leading medical societies, and the state reports insurers have committed to maintain coverage at least through the end of 2026.
• State policies will align with guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the FDA rather than shifting federal advisories.
• Pennsylvania will launch a central online vaccine portal and convene a Vaccine Education Workgroup to provide evidence-based information and counter misinformation.
• The action follows federal moves under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including narrowed COVID booster recommendations and a reconstituted CDC advisory panel, and it builds on a recent state Board of Pharmacy decision allowing pharmacists to follow medical-society guidance.