Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro aims to protect vaccine access with new executive order
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, flanked by doctors and health care leaders at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, signed an executive order Wednesday protecting access to all vaccines for people in Pennsylvania.
"Our health, our safety and our economy all depend on people having access to vaccines," Shapiro said.
The governor, a father of four and the son of a pediatrician, is pushing back against federal health officials and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for creating confusion and limiting access to vaccines.
"I do not want you to be guided by someone like RFK Jr., who I believe is wholly unqualified to give medical advice and who is restricting our freedoms," Shapiro said during the event.
"Changes in the federal government's approach to vaccines are creating risks, and they are devastating to those of us who dedicated our lives to protecting children from infectious diseases," CHOP Dr. Charlotte Moser said.
The governor's executive order creates a "vaccine safety net" in Pennsylvania and an online vaccine portal to share verified information.
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The order also requires all state agencies to align their vaccine policies with "trusted medical experts" and creates a vaccine education group that will work to combat misinformation.
"Vaccines do more than prevent diseases. They prevent pain and suffering," Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen said.
With the executive order, Shapiro says he has a six-step plan to ensure anyone can get the vaccines they want and that they'll be covered by Medicaid and private insurance. Governors in New Jersey and Delaware have made similar moves.
"This is the birthplace of freedom, and I think medical and health care freedom is central to those tenets of what we need more of in this country," Shapiro said during the event.