New York state this week released  COVID-19 vaccine guidance for 2025-26.

Despite changes in federal guidance, the state recommends COVID vaccination for children (6 months to 18 years old), all adults, and individuals at higher risk, including those who are pregnant, lactating, or immunocompromised.

The state guidance also aligns with consensus COVID-19 recommendations agreed upon by the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, a group of several Northeastern states and municipalities including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and New York City.

These recommendations are consistent with the Fall 2025 COVID-19 vaccination guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

After Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in May that pregnant women and healthy children were no longer recommended to get the shot, these professional societies moved to develop their own COVID vaccination recommendations.

“Vaccines remain one of the strongest tools we have to safeguard our families and our communities,” Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement. “As Washington continues to launch its misguided attacks on science, New York is making it clear that every resident will have access to the COVID vaccine, no exceptions.

“By standing with our partners across the Northeast,” she concluded, “we are ensuring that New Yorkers have the protection and the information they need to stay safe and healthy.”

The guidance is being issued as COVID cases and hospitalizations tick up.

Nationally, the number of samples testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID — has increased by 8 percent since June. The hospitalization rate also has roughly doubled since June, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID Data Tracker.

The uptick comes as newly formulated shots hit pharmacies.

Earlier this month, Hochul signed an Executive Order allowing pharmacists to prescribe and administer COVID vaccines, ensuring continued access for all New Yorkers who wish to be vaccinated.

The order will be extended as necessary while a long-term state legislative solution is developed to address access to all vaccines “in order to combat the Trump administration’s misguided attack on immunization and health care,” according to a release from the governor’s office.

The state also recently issued guidance to insurers, encouraging them to continue covering all vaccines recommended by The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

The guidance reminds insurers of previously issued guidance requiring insurers to cover COVID vaccines for children, and urges insurers to encourage employers and other entities who provide self-funded health-care coverage to continue covering the cost of vaccines.

“Vaccines save lives, and this guidance ensures every New Yorker from our youngest children to those at highest risk has safe, reliable access to the COVID vaccine,” said the state’s health commissioner, James McDonald, in a statement. “We are standing firm on our commitment to protecting the health of every New Yorker.”