Gov. Josh Shapiro is right to issue an executive order to safeguard vaccine access and combat misinformation amid federal changes and confusion.
Shapiro signed Executive Order 2025-02 at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) on Oct. 1 and directed state agencies to align with leading medical experts.
Shapiro’s executive order established a state-based approach to ensure continued vaccine access, combat misinformation and align state health guidance with expert medical groups rather than what he referred to as “politically influenced” federal decisions.
The order came in response to federal actions by the Trump administration and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including changes that affected vaccine access and recommendations.
Shapiro’s action should help to counter the “confusion and chaos” sown by the Trump administration.
In response to recent federal changes impacting vaccine access and guidance, many Democratic-led states have moved to safeguard and expand access.
Republican-led states have taken steps to reduce or restrict vaccine mandates and requirements.
Shapiro’s executive order creates a Pennsylvania-based program to ensure that children are eligible for the federal Vaccines for Children initiative and can continue to receive necessary vaccines without cost, regardless of any changes to the federal program.
State agencies must base their guidance and regulations on recommendations from trusted medical authorities, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, rather than on potentially “politically influenced” federal guidelines.
The Shapiro administration has secured commitments from private insurers and required the state’s Medicaid program to continue covering all recommended vaccines without new barriers or cost-sharing.
The order establishes a centralized online resource at pa.gov/vaccines to provide evidence-based information to the public, healthcare providers and families.
A new workgroup of medical experts, parents, and public health leaders will be convened to develop a strategy for public communication and combating misinformation.
The order directs the state’s Department of Aging to expand vaccine access for older adults and ensures that school-entry vaccination requirements remain consistent with reliable medical guidance.
Shapiro’s executive order on vaccines is the proper response to a series of federal policy changes and actions by the Trump administration that created widespread confusion and raised concerns about vaccine access, coverage and reliability.
In June 2025, Secretary Kennedy dismissed all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replaced them with hand-picked members, many of whom have expressed skepticism about vaccines. Many public health experts see this as an effort to impose an “anti-vaccine agenda” and undermine the scientific process.
Under the Trump administration, federal officials have introduced changes to COVID-19 vaccination recommendations that added restrictions and created confusion.
The FDA and CDC shifted to a “shared clinical decision-making” model, which changed the universal recommendation for COVID-19 vaccinations for healthy adults under 65. The new guidance emphasized that the most favorable risk-benefit is for those with underlying conditions.
The changes led to delays and uncertainty in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, with some states requiring prescriptions for the shot.
The Trump administration and Kennedy also raised discredited theories linking vaccines to autism and pushed for separating childhood shots.
Pennsylvania Health Secretary Debra Bogen noted an increase in vaccine misinformation, which has led to a decline in childhood vaccination rates in the state.
Ideally, state and federal officials should not have divergent views on an issue as critical as vaccine access.
However, Gov. Shapiro’s executive order on vaccines was necessary to counter misinformation from the Trump administration that could have dire consequences for public health.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune)