(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s governor is ordering the state’s public health managers to come up with state-specific rules for the COVID vaccine.
Gov. Tony Evers issued an executive order to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to “use every lever and take every action available to ensure Wisconsinites can access safe, effective vaccines.”
“RFK and the Trump Administration are inserting partisan politics into health care and the science-based decisions of medical professionals and are putting the health and lives of kids, families, and folks across our state at risk in the process,’ the governor said in a statement. “Here in Wisconsin, we will continue to follow the science to ensure Wisconsinites have access to the health care they need when and where they need it to make their own health care decisions that are right for them.”
Robert F Kennedy Jr. has changed the recommendations for the COVID vaccine, but he has said he has not restricted their access.
Under Kennedy, the FDA last month rolled back COVID shot recommendations to people more than 65, and anyone more than 6-months-old who have underlying health conditions that increase their risks from COVID.
“Vaccines save lives, folks. Spreading fear, distrust, and disinformation about safe and effective vaccines isn’t just reckless, it’s dangerous,” Evers added.
In addition to the order to DHS, Evers is also ordering Wisconsin’s Commissioner of Insurance and the Wisconsin Pharmacy Examining Board to ” identify, review, and remove barriers to vaccine access to the fullest extent permitted by law and available funding to ensure vaccines remain broadly and readily accessible to Wisconsinites.”
The governor wants the Commissioner of Insurance to also work with health insurers and other health plans to see who will pay for COVID shots in Wisconsin that may not be covered in other states.
