LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — With confusion surrounding federal vaccine coverage and pointers, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an government directive Wednesday to take away limitations that might make it more durable for Michiganders to obtain COVID-19 vaccines.
“Cold, flu, and COVID-19 season are upon us. We all have a role to play in keeping our communities safe and healthy,” mentioned Governor Whitmer. “At this time’s government directive ensures Michiganders can get the COVID-19 vaccine.”
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer speaks throughout a dialog at 92NY on September 22, 2024 in New York Metropolis. (John Nacion/Getty Pictures)
The directive instructs the Michigan Division of Well being and Human Providers (MDHHS), the Division of Insurance coverage and Monetary Providers (DIFS) and the Division of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) to:
Be sure that medical health insurance plans beneath the MDHHS and DIFS authority, together with Medicaid, cowl COVID-19 vaccines.
Subject clear, accessible pointers to pharmacists, suppliers and the general public concerning the security and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Direct pharmacists and suppliers to encourage sufferers to get vaccinated.
Take away limitations to COVID-19 vaccine entry.
The order doesn’t specify how these companies will perform the directive.
The transfer comes as a rising listing of states and public well being leaders work to enhance entry to COVID-19 vaccines, whereas the U.S. Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes sweeping modifications to federal vaccine coverage, altering how vaccines are beneficial and reviewed.
Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. seems earlier than the Senate Finance Committee on the Dirksen Senate Workplace Constructing on September 4, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Pictures)
Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic with no medical background, introduced in Might that the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention would now not suggest COVID-19 vaccines for wholesome youngsters or pregnant ladies. In August, he modified the labels on vaccines, stating that they need to solely be administered to people 65 years of age or older.
He fired CDC Director Susan Monarez, who holds a Ph.D in microbiology and immunology, after simply 29 days within the function. Monarez mentioned she was dismissed after refusing to “preapprove the recommendations of a vaccine advisory panel newly filled with people who have publicly expressed antivaccine rhetoric.” Kennedy said Monarez — whom he previously praised for her “unimpeachable scientific credentials” — was ousted because she was “not reliable.”
Kennedy dismissed all 17 members from an unbiased vaccine advisory panel that makes suggestions to the CDC, changing them along with his personal appointees, a lot of whom are vaccine skeptics.
Many states are actually counting on the American Academy of Pediatrics for vaccine scheduling steering slightly than the CDC.
Whitmer’s directive comes as COVID-19 instances are rising in Michigan. The CDC reported a rise in instances as of Sept. 9, 2025.
