Maryland offers its own vaccine guidance for the first time since split from feds

Maryland health officials released their guidance on vaccines ahead of the fall flu season, making use for the first time of new legal authority to split from federal authorities.

“We recognize Marylanders are facing back-to-school germs and the upcoming respiratory virus season, all while navigating shifting vaccine guidance from the federal government,” Dr. Meena Seshamani, Maryland health secretary, said during a news conference Thursday.

Seshamani was given authority through the state Vax Act, passed earlier this year, to tie Maryland’s guidance to major medical associations rather than the federal health agencies that have long advised the public. The associations include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

State officials and those from other states split with the feds after a key advisory committee was reconstituted last year by U.S. Health Secretary Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., long a vaccine critic. A federal judge blocked its new recommendations that scaled back vaccinations, which public health experts say caused confusion and were not grounded in science.

Cases of COVID, flu and RSV are all still low, according to the state dashboard as of Sept. 4, but last year’s flu season was rough. Dr. Meg Sullivan, deputy secretary for public health, said officials are trying to get ahead of this season.

Sullivan said adults and children should aim to be vaccinated against the respiratory infections by the end of October.

Officials noted that Maryland requires insurers to cover the shots they recommend and pharmacists can administer recommended vaccines to those ages 3 and older without a prescription. The state has programs to pay the costs for children and adults who are uninsured or underinsured.

State health officials are providing recommendations for providers and the public on vaccinations for children:

• On flu: one dose of the annually updated vaccine at age 6 months and older
• On COVID: a dose, possibly more, of the annually updated vaccine after age 6 months
• On RSV: one dose by age 6 months and another later for children at high risk

Vaccines for polio, hepatitis, chickenpox and others are also recommended as a matter of routine, or to catch up. Several are required for schoolchildren.

State officials recommend vaccinations for adults:

• On flu:
• undefined
• On COVID:
• undefined
• On RSV:
• undefined

Other vaccinations are recommended, such as the tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis ​vaccine for pregnant women, while others are not recommended except in certain circumstances. That includes the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine for adults who were never vaccinated, given the recent outbreaks.

“Vaccines remain essential to protecting ourselves, our families and our communities against preventable illnesses,” Sullivan said. The health department, she added, “encourages people to speak with their healthcare providers about what is right for them.”