BILL NUMBER: S7823A

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing the admin-
istration of immunizations pursuant to recommendations made by the
commissioner of health; and to amend the public health law, in relation
to removing the requirement to follow the centers for disease control
and prevention recommendation for immunization against meningococcal
disease

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to authorize the State Department of Health
to serve as an alternative source of authority to the federal Centers
for Disease Control with regard to vaccine schedules, to ensure that the
accessibility of vaccines in New York is no longer tied to federal regu-
latory uncertainty and decision-making by a federal administration which
disregards the sound consensus of the scientific and public health
communities.

 
              

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends subparagraph (a) of paragraph 2 of section 6801 of the
education law to authorize the administration of immunization or immuni-
zations according to recommendations made by the commissioner of health
pertaining to a vaccine authorized by the federal Food and Drug Adminis-
tration.

Section 2 amends subparagraph (a) of paragraph 4 of section 6801 of the
education law to provide for a supplemental vaccine schedule published
by the commissioner of health.

Section 3 amends paragraph (c) of subdivision 2 of section 2164 of the
public health law to eliminate reference to the recommendations of the
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention with regard to vaccine standards for meningococ-
cal disease, leaving in place the approval authority of the New York
State Department of Health and the requirement that vaccines meet the
standards approved for biological products by the United States Public
Health Service.

Section 4 states that this act shall take effect immediately.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The Trump Administration has sought to undermine the Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) and confidence in the efficacy of medically proven
vaccines. Alarmingly, New York is now among sixteen states where pharma-
cies are holding back on offering COVID vaccines because of federal
regulatory uncertainty precipitated by notorious vaccine skeptic HHS
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Any continued reliance on recommendations of the CDC for New York's
vaccine standards is, at best, unnecessary and may potentially compro-
mise the New York State Department of Health's capacity to set standards
that serve the public health interests of the state. It is clear that

New York cannot, for the time being, rely on the federal government for
public health guidance.

This bill would authorize the State Department of Health, going forward,
to serve as an alternative source of authority to the CDC with regard to
vaccine schedules. In doing so, it would allow pharmacies to offer COVID
vaccines so long as they are authorized by the State Department of
Health, independent of bad-faith political decision-making by the Trump
Administration. This bill would also eliminate reference to the CDC with
regard to vaccines for meningococcal disease, which is the only place
where the CDC is expressly referenced in State law in vaccination
requirements.  Passage of this bill is essential to ensuring that
vaccines are accessible to New Yorkers based upon established science,
and not the whims of the Trump Administration.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.