Will Humble Disease Control, Vaccination, Wills Blog

Hobbs Acts to Protect COVID Vaccine Access Directs ADHS, Pharmacy Board & DIFI to Implement Administrative Interventions

Kennedy’s new anti-vaccine Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) meets this Thursday and Friday where they’ll make decisions that will restrict access to COVID boosters for wide sloths of the population. They may also restrict access to Hepatitis B, RSV and MMRV, but they’re not meddling with influenza for the time being.

Governor Hobbs launched a pre-emptive plan Thursday to mitigate the damage to COVID vaccine access that the ACIP will do next week.

See the Executive Order
Arizona governor takes 1st step toward expanded COVID vaccine access

The ACIP meeting next week is super important because ACIP recommendations are hard-wired into state and federal law when it comes to vaccine access.

That’s because health plans only have to cover vaccines when they’re recommended by the ACIP (under the ACA) and pharmacists can only administer vaccines without a prescription when they’re recommended by ACIP for that patient cohort.

Hobbs’ Executive Order has three main elements that tackle vaccine administration and payments.

  • One track directs ADHS to issue a Standing Order that would provide a prescription for all people in Arizona who fit into categories recommended for vaccination by reputable organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association. That will let pharmacists administer the vaccine under a standing order rather than an individual prescription.
  • Another task directs the AZ Board of Pharmacy to ensure pharmacists can act under that Order as part of their scope of practice, relieving administrative barriers to vaccine administration in pharmacies.
  • A third track nudges the AZ Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions to require the health plans they regulate cover the COVID vaccine for their members without a copay or deductible.
  • The EO didn’t direct AHCCCS to cover the COVID vaccine for their members – but at the vaccine summit this week AHCCCS leadership seemed confident that they’d be able to cover the vaccine for their members even for those populations that ACIP excludes next week.

Taken together those actions should mitigate the damage to COVID vaccine access after ACIP restricts recommendations next week.

Once these new interventions are in place, Arizonans will be in a better position to mitigate ACIP’s damage to COVID vaccine access by giving pharmacists the ability to vaccinate under the Standing Order and compelling health insurers and AHCCCS to cover. It’ll also provide some clarity from vaccinators about how much vaccine to order and whether their staff can administer it.

Good timing on this Executive Order – as this week is the perfect time to do the necessary planning so we can move quickly after we find out how much damage Kennedy’s ACIP does next Thursday and Friday.

Will Humble Uncategorized

View AZPHA’s Member Breakfast & Learn: Suicide Prevention in Arizona

Local Suicide Surveillance Data Trends & AZ Suicide Mortality Review Board Recommendations 

View the Webinar Here: 

 View the Webinar Here Passcode: 6#2JMC.u


This informative webinar reviews of local trends in suicide surveillance and the priorities and activities of Arizona’s  Suicide Mortality Review Board.

The Board examines individual suicide deaths in the state to identify contributing factors and systemic gaps. Its members include public health officials, clinicians, law enforcement, and community representatives.

The team analyzes case data looking for preventable patterns, making recommendations aimed at improving prevention strategies, strengthening support systems to reduce suicide rates statewide.
Will Humble Healthcare, Public Health, Wills Blog

How Kennedy’s Plan to Cut NIH by 40% Would Damage Medical Progress

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the world’s largest funder of biomedical research, and its work underpins nearly every major advance in modern medicine. NIH supports basic science research—the “bottom of the pyramid” work that is too risky and too long-term for private companies to finance. This research includes studies in genetics, cell biology, immunology, neuroscience, and how diseases develop.

Without NIH, the base of our medical innovation pyramid collapses. Companies need that knowledge to create real treatments. COVID-19 vaccines, cancer immunotherapies, and HIV treatments all grew from many years of NIH-supported discoveries.

NIH-funded research primarily supports foundational science. This is the kind of research that looks to understand how biological systems function at the most fundamental level, studying genes, proteins, cellular pathways, and disease mechanisms.

It doesn’t usually result in a new drug tomorrow, but it builds the essential knowledge that makes applied innovation possible. Without this groundwork, private companies would be venturing into the unknown with much higher risk and cost.

Once foundational discoveries are made, the private sector often steps in to conduct translational research. This phase bridges the gap between basic science and practical applications, finding potential drug targets, developing new therapies, and designing early testing models.

Translational research is where discoveries start to show real promise for clinical use, but it is expensive and risky—far more so without the insights generated by publicly funded research.

Finally, clinical trials bring potential therapies to patients. These trials are typically led by private companies that have the resources to navigate the regulatory process, scale production, and ensure safety and efficacy. By the time a therapy reaches this stage, NIH-funded research has often been critical in finding the underlying biology that made the therapy conceivable.

One Arizona-based example brings this home. At the University of Arizona’s Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies, researchers are using NIH-funded work on mRNA to create personalized cancer vaccines.

These highly precise treatments – that have the potential to displace the blunt instrument of chemotherapy in some cases – wouldn’t be possible without the basic science that NIH supports.

A 40% cut to the NIH budget would do more than slow progress—it would break the pipeline. Labs would close. Young scientists would leave. The training ground for tomorrow’s breakthroughs would vanish. That damage would last for decades.

Why NIH matters

  • Builds the foundation: NIH pays for early research into how diseases work.
  • Drives innovation: Most new treatments—like cancer vaccines and HIV drugs—come from NIH discoveries.
  • Supports jobs and learning: Grants fund lab workers, grad students, and new scientists.
  • Boosts our economy: Every dollar of NIH research often leads to new companies, patents, and medical tools.
  • Keeps us global leaders: NIH helps make sure big medical breakthroughs happen right here in America.

Kennedy’s plan to cut NIH funding by 40% next year will sabotage the scientific discoveries that will change lives for years to come. The long-term damage occurs as research scientists leave the field causing an atrophy of people to actually do the research even after the current administration leaves.

Will Humble Professional Development, Wills Blog

AZPHA Member Breakfast & Learn Suicide Prevention in Arizona: Local Suicide Surveillance Data Trends & AZ Suicide Mortality Review Board Recommendations 

Friday, September 12, 2025

9-10am


Join us for this informative review of local trends in suicide surveillance and the priorities and activities of Arizona’s Suicide Mortality Review Board.

The Board examines individual suicide deaths in the state to identify contributing factors and systemic gaps. Its members include public health officials, clinicians, law enforcement, and community representatives.

The team analyzes case data looking for preventable patterns, making recommendations aimed at improving prevention strategies, strengthening support systems to reduce suicide rates statewide.

Our Speaker: Kelsey Manders,

Maricopa County Department of Public Health

Kelsey Manders is a dedicated Suicide Education and Prevention Coordinator with over five years in mental health and crisis prevention. She holds a Master’s in Social Work from Boston University, where she specialized in community-based interventions and policy change.

Throughout her career, Kelsey has been committed to supporting individuals at risk of suicide, working to create comprehensive prevention strategies, and instilling trauma-informed policies.

Register Here: Free for AZPHA Members

Will Humble Healthcare, Public Health, Vaccination, Wills Blog

Protecting COVID-19 Vaccine Access: What AZ Can Do After ACIP/CDC Restricts Coverage

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets in Atlanta on September 18–19, 2025 to review the immunization schedules for several vaccines.

Normally, ACIP is made up of medical and public health experts who carefully review evidence and make recommendations to protect public health. But earlier this year, Secretary Kennedy removed those qualified members and replaced them with anti-vaccine activists and wellness influencers.

This change matters a lot. ACIP recommendations guide both federal and state rules about who gets access to vaccines, which vaccines must be covered with no out-of-pocket costs, and even who is allowed to give shots.

On the table later this month are several vaccines: COVID-19, RSV, MMRV, and Hepatitis B. For now, let’s focus on COVID-19, because access to that vaccine could shrink dramatically depending on what ACIP recommends.

If ACIP only recommends the COVID-19 vaccine for people over 65 and a small group of younger adults with certain high-risk medical conditions, then insurance companies won’t have to cover the shot for everyone (per the Affordable Care Act).

Pharmacists in Arizona would also lose the ability to give the vaccine to most people without a prescription. This would create real barriers for people who want protection from COVID-19, especially those who are used to the convenience of getting vaccinated at a pharmacy.

Fortunately, Arizona has some options to step in and protect access.

First, AHCCCS, Arizona’s Medicaid program, which covers nearly 2 million people, could make an administrative decision to cover the COVID-19 vaccine for all members.

There’s precedent for this kind of action. During the H1N1 outbreak, AHCCCS made a similar decision to ensure widespread access to vaccines. If AHCCCS takes this step again, it would go a long way toward keeping vaccines available.

Another possibility is through regulating private insurance. The Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions may have the authority to require private insurance companies to cover the COVID-19 vaccine, even if (when) ACIP narrows its recommendation. If that authority is clear, DIFI may be able to make sure Arizonans with commercial insurance don’t lose coverage for that vaccine.

Pharmacy access is also a critical issue. Most Arizonans now rely on their local pharmacy for vaccines. But under state law (ARS 32-1974), pharmacists can only give vaccines to groups recommended by ACIP, unless action is taken at the state level.

There are two tools at the state level. The ADHS could publish its own list of vaccines that pharmacists can give without a prescription [ARS 32-1974(H)]. Because ADHS is exempt from the normal rulemaking process under that statute, it could be done pretty quickly, within a matter of months.

In the meantime, the ADHS Chief Medical Officer or county health officers could also issue what’s known as a “standing order.” This works like a blanket prescription that applies to entire groups of people, allowing pharmacists to continue giving the COVID-19 shot to the broader population.

These options could mitigate the damage caused by a restrictive ACIP recommendation when they meet later this month. It’ll require coordination and swift action across agencies (and of course leadership & support from the Governor), but it’s possible.

ACIP’s September meeting could make it much harder for Arizonans to get COVID-19 vaccines and maybe even RSV, Hepatitis B, and MMRV too. But, Arizona leaders still have some local tools to protect some access.

By being prepared to act quickly after the September 18 and 19 ACIP meeting via AHCCCS, the Department of Insurance, and the ADHS… we might be able to mitigate some of Kennedy’s damage at least in the short run.

Will Humble Public Health, Vaccination, Wills Blog

Vaccine Access & ACIP: What’s at Stake September 18 & 19

When most people think about vaccine decisions in the United States, they think of the FDA. The FDA does play a critical role by licensing vaccines after reviewing rigorous data on safety and effectiveness. But the FDA doesn’t decide how vaccines are used in practice or who gets them. That responsibility falls to the CDC and, more specifically, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

Here’s how the system normally works: once a vaccine is licensed by the FDA, the ACIP reviews the evidence and makes recommendations about whether the vaccine should be used, who should get it, and at what ages or intervals. Those recommendations then go to the CDC director, who adopts them into the official childhood and adult vaccine schedules.

These schedules matter far beyond just clinical guidance. They directly determine access:

  • The Vaccines for Children program, which provides free vaccines to more than half of American children (through Medicaid, Indian Health Service, and for those uninsured or underinsured), follows the CDC’s schedule.
  • Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, private insurers must cover all vaccines recommended on the schedule with no cost-sharing.

In short, if a vaccine is on the CDC’s schedule, it’s accessible. If it’s not, families may face high costs or be unable to get it at all.

This system has worked well for decades, ensuring broad and fair access to evidence-based immunizations. While debates within ACIP have occasionally been contentious, the committee has consistently relied on data, public health need, and medical expertise to shape its recommendations.

That’s why we’re paying close attention to the next ACIP meeting on September 18–19, 2025 in Atlanta. The committee will be reviewing the childhood vaccine recommendations for MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella, varicella), RSV, Hepatitis B, and COVID-19.

Federal Register :: Meeting of the ACIP

The concern is that this year’s ACIP has been replaced by Kennedy with people who lack public health or medical credentials, many with histories of promoting anti-vaccine views.

If the ACIP issues politically motivated recommendations that ignore evidence, the CDC could adopt them into policy. That would directly affect vaccine accessibility nationwide and could lead to steep declines in vaccination rates.

Here in Arizona, the consequences could be particularly severe. Our state already struggles with lower-than-average childhood immunization rates. If important vaccines like MMR or Hepatitis B are stripped from the national schedule, Arizona children could lose free or affordable access.

There’s another key access point tied directly to ACIP recommendations: pharmacies.

More and more Arizonans rely on local pharmacies for routine immunizations, especially adults and families seeking convenience. Under Arizona law (ARS 32-1974), whether a pharmacist can administer a vaccine depends on whether the ACIP recommends it. If a vaccine is removed from the ACIP schedule, pharmacists lose the authority to give it.

That means the upcoming September decisions won’t just decide insurance coverage, they’ll determine whether people in Arizona can continue getting vaccines at their neighborhood pharmacy.

Will Humble Professional Development, Wills Blog

Public Health Journalism this Week

Impact of RFK Jr.’s vaccine limits: Sunday SquareOff

How to get updated COVID vaccines in Arizona

Will Arizona follow Florida and dump vaccine requirements?

Can you get the new COVID shot in Arizona? What we know

Measles case counts in Mohave County went from 9 to 12 in two days

It’s harder to get a COVID-19 shot right now. But this AZ public health expert says you should

Kris Mayes- Pantsuits and Lawsuits

 

Will Humble Climate Change, Wills Blog

AzPHA Letter to ADOT Regarding their New EV Infrastructure Deployment Plan

September 8, 2025

Dear Jesse,

On behalf of the Arizona Public Health Association, I write in support of ADOT’s 2025 update to the Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Deployment Plan. Our Association has long supported ADOT’s efforts to expand charging infrastructure across Arizona, and we appreciate the inclusive, data-driven process that shaped this update.

We commend ADOT’s consistent stakeholder and public engagement. By seeking broad geographic and sector input and responding to feedback, ADOT has developed a plan that reflects both community needs and statewide priorities.

The proposed addition of EV charging stations along nine state highways will:

  • Close critical gaps that drivers identify as barriers to EV travel.
  • Expand access beyond major urban centers, giving families confidence that EVs can meet everyday needs.
  • Support local economies by drawing travelers to businesses and creating jobs in construction and maintenance.
  • Improve air quality and public health by reducing tailpipe pollution, lowering risks of asthma, heart disease, and other pollution-related illnesses.

AzPHA had earlier put in comments urging ADOT to locate charging stations at state Rest Areas. While we still believe that would have been a better decision for some of the locations – we nevertheless support your final plan.

The 2025 update is a clear step forward for Arizona’s economy, environment, and health. We strongly encourage ADOT to adopt and implement the plan, and we look forward to working with you on next steps.

Sincerely,

Will Humble,

Executive Director,
Arizona Public Health Association

Will Humble Healthcare, Public Health, Wills Blog

mRNA Cancer Vaccines: A New Hope for Targeted Treatment (if Kennedy Doesn’t Stop the Research)

Cancer treatment has traditionally relied on chemotherapy, a blunt instrument that attacks all rapidly dividing cells, often causing many side effects.

However, new NIH funded research using mRNA technology is showing a smarter way to fight cancer. Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, first used for infectious diseases, are now being assessed as treatments that can train the immune system to attack tumors.

mRNA vaccines work by teaching the body’s cells to make proteins that look like parts of cancer cells. This “training” helps the immune system recognize and attack cancer more effectively. Unlike regular vaccines that prevent diseases, mRNA cancer vaccines are designed to help the body fight existing cancers.

Over 120 clinical trials are studying mRNA vaccines for cancers like melanoma, pancreatic cancer, and glioblastoma. For example, Moderna’s mRNA vaccine combined with Merck’s immunotherapy drug showed promising results in melanoma patients, lowering the risk of the cancer coming back.

This research is very exciting, but it could be slowed or stopped if Kennedy decides to end mRNA research because of his opposition to the technology. Right now, cancer mRNA research is still moving forward, but he has already ended mRNA research for infectious disease prevention.

Chemotherapy is a blunt tool that attacks all fast-growing cells, causing side effects like hair loss, nausea, and fatigue. mRNA vaccines are different because they specifically target cancer cells, helping the immune system fight the disease while leaving healthy cells mostly unharmed.

mRNA vaccines may one day replace or work alongside, or even replace chemotherapy, offering more precise, less harmful cancer treatments. If current trials continue to show positive results (and if research isn’t stopped by Kennedy) these vaccines could become a key part of cancer care, making treatments safer and more effective.

mRNA technology could change the way we treat cancer, offering hope for more targeted and personalized care. The science is promising, but its success depends on continued research.

Let’s hope that Kennedy’s anti-mRNA bias doesn’t lead him to end this promising work before it has a chance to save lives.

I think he will.

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