ALBANY — A pair of state lawmakers this week introduced legislation that would formally align the state’s vaccination policies with recommendations from nationally recognized medical organizations following recent changes to the U.S. vaccine schedule that have been widely criticized by public health officials.

The legislation would amend New York’s Public Health Law and Social Services Law by clarifying the state’s vaccine schedule and vaccination requirements to attend school are issued by the state’s health commissioner based on recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and other recognized medical and scientific organizations instead of the “United States Public Health Service” as the current law requires.

“This legislation is about protecting children and giving families and providers clarity and confidence,” Assembly Member Amy Paulin, a Brooklyn Democrat and one of the legislation’s primary sponsors, said in a statement.

State Sen. Shelley Mayer, a Democrat representing Westchester County, is sponsoring the legislation in the Legislature’s upper chamber.

The legislation, which has the backing of Gov. Kathy Hochul, comes weeks after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopted a major overhaul of the country’s vaccine schedule that was pushed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. health secretary who has been accused of spreading misinformation around the safety of vaccines.

Under the revised schedule, the number of recommended childhood vaccines dropped from 17 to 11, and several vaccines long recommended for all children were shifted to high-risk and shared clinician categories.

No vaccine was outright pulled from the schedule and all inoculations are still covered by insurance, according to the updated guidance.

Kennedy has said the changes were adopted following an “exhaustive review” and argued the revised schedule better aligns U.S. vaccination policy with other major countries, while bolstering efforts around transparency and patient consent.

But the changes have been widely criticized by prominent public health and scientific organizations, which have said the altered schedule is not based on scientific evidence and threatens to upend decades of progress around disease prevention by sowing confusion and doubt around the importance of vaccines.

Shortly after the revised vaccine schedule was adopted, the state’s Department of Health announced New York’s vaccine policies would remain unchanged.

Hochul, during her State of the State address, announced plans to introduce legislation to that would allow the state to set its own immunization standards "based on accepted medical science and public health needs." 

"While Washington cuts and destabilizes care, New York will continue investing in patients, providers, and protections to ensure health remains accessible across the state," she said in a statement. 

There are currently no laws that require childhood vaccines, but New York has strict laws that require certain vaccines in order for children to attend daycare and pre-K through 12 schools. The state ended religious exemptions for all schooling and only allows limited medical exemptions. 

Dr. James McDonald, the state's health commissioner, this week endorsed the childhood and adolescent vaccine schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which calls for immunization against 18 preventable diseases. 

“Families all across New York State can rest assured that our immunization policies will continue to be aligned with science and evidence-based research that will provide our children and communities with the best protection against diseases that are entirely preventable,” McDonald said in a statement.