BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey is playing national health czar again — this time by rolling out a Dem-led vaccine task force designed to keep the needles flowing in Massachusetts, whether Washington likes it or not.

With COVID cases ticking up and the feds mired in Trump-era chaos, Healey says she won’t let Bay Staters wait on a disbanded CDC panel. Instead, she’s teaming up with a pack of Democratic governors to create their own playbook — a blue-state vaccine bloc that sounds more like a campaign stunt than a local fix.

The backstory: under Massachusetts law, a CDC advisory panel has to give the nod before pharmacies can hand out vaccines. But that panel was gutted and isn’t meeting anytime soon. Healey’s public health commissioner already issued a standing order letting pharmacy staff poke arms, but the governor clearly wanted a bigger stage.

So last month she jetted off to Rhode Island for a private sit-down with eight other Dem states — from New York to Pennsylvania — to sketch out how to bypass Washington altogether. New Hampshire didn’t make the guest list.

Now Healey is promising Massachusetts residents she’ll make sure you get your vaccines, leaning on the new task force to prove she can outmaneuver D.C. gridlock. Whether it’s public health or just political theater, one thing’s clear: Healey likes to play CDC boss almost as much as she likes playing governor.