New Jersey Becomes Latest State To Expand Access To Covid-19 Vaccines

New Jersey has become the latest state to sign orders expanding access to COVID-19 vaccines, breaking with guidance from federal health agencies.

The state Department of Health issued an executive directive on Tuesday allowing anyone aged six months or older to receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine, in time for the upcoming respiratory virus season.

The agency issued a separate order directing pharmacists to administer COVID-19 vaccines without a prescription to those who are three years and older.

"At a time when COVID-19 cases are increasing across the country and as part of my Administration's dedication to evidence-based public health action, I am committed to ensuring everyone in New Jersey who wants to receive a COVID-19 vaccination can receive a dose this fall from trusted health professionals," Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement.

In a statement to ABC News, Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said, "Democrat-run states that pushed unscientific school lockdowns, toddler mask mandates, and draconian vaccine passports during the COVID era completely eroded the American people's trust in public health agencies."

He added that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) vaccine advisory committee "remains the scientific body guiding immunization recommendations in this country, and HHS will ensure policy is based on rigorous evidence and Gold Standard Science, not the failed politics of the pandemic."

It comes two weeks after the Food and Drug Administration approved updated COVID-19 vaccines with restrictions. The vaccines were approved for use in all adults aged 65 and older and younger Americans with at least one underlying condition.

New Jersey health officials said in a press release that the changes to COVID-19 vaccine access, announced by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on social media, "bypassed the normal scientific review process, creating confusion and uncertainty, especially because they conflicted with previous CDC recommendations."

Following the FDA's approval, CVS, the nation's largest pharmacy chain, said it would continue to offer COVID-19 vaccines for those who fall under the new FDA authorization.

But in another 13 states, people will need a prescription to get a COVID shot, even if they are older or high-risk. Additionally, in three states, New Mexico, Nevada and Massachusetts, CVS is holding off on giving COVID shots, company spokesperson Amy Thibault said, citing "the current regulatory environment."

Walgreens, another large pharmacy chain, said it would give shots where it was legally able to do so, but didn't specify which states would have which rules.

In response, states, including New York and Minnesota, issued executive orders in an effort to protect vaccine access.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz issued an executive order directing the state epidemiologist to issue a standing order – a written protocol allowing health care professionals to perform specific tasks or provide certain treatments for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Walz's office said in a press release that this will "provide greater flexibility for health care providers and pharmacists to provide the vaccine."

New York's order allows physicians and nurse practitioners to issue patient-specific or non-patient-specific orders to pharmacists to administer COVID-19 vaccines among patients aged three and older.

A pharmacy manager administers a patient with a COVID-19 vaccine at a CVS Pharmacy in Miami, Sept. 9, 2025.

The order also expands permits pharmacists to prescribe COVID-19 vaccines themselves for the first time.

"I promised New Yorkers that their family would be my fight. In the absence of federal leadership, we must do everything we can to ensure that New Yorkers have access to the vaccines and preventative healthcare they have come to rely on," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. "By signing this executive order, we are sending a clear message that when Washington Republicans play politics with public health, New Yorkers can still get the care they need, close to home, from trusted providers in their own communities."

Meanwhile, states on the West Coast and several on the East Coast are forming geographic coalitions to offer their own consistent vaccine guidelines, which they say are backed by evidence and informed by major national medical groups.

ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.