Relates to the establishment of regulations for administering immunizations based on the recommendations of certain entities

• Democratic15

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Michelle Hinchey says this is needed

The federal advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP) is a longstanding, highly regarded expert panel within the centers for disease control and prevention, tasked with reviewing and making recom- mendations related to vaccine administration. Since its founding over 50 years ago, healthcare practitioners and public health leaders have relied on its recommendations to drive state immunization policy. In New York for example, Education Law gives the commissioners of health and education statutory power to authorize ACIP-recommended immunizations at the state level if they agree such immunizations are sufficiently safe and necessary, and Insurance Law relies on ACIP guidance to mandate insurance coverage for such immunizations. Sadly, ACIP has undergone an unprecedented political purge in which all seventeen of its members were fired simultaneously in what the Ameri- can-Public Health Association Executive Director characterized as a "coup." The eight newly appointed replacements vary in professional credentials, and in August 2025 the Chair of the US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, a physician, called for post- ponement of ACIP's next meeting citing "serious allegations" regarding the "meeting agenda, membership, and lack of scientific process being followed" by the new panel. The new Council has also made several imme- diate decisions regarding vaccine policy that contradict decades of accepted medical practice. New Yorkers are deeply concerned that we've lost a reliable source of public health expertise and experience, especially as our laws are so tied to ACIP. However, several national professional medical organiza- tions such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Physicians have long provided vaccine policy recommendations. States have also begun considering regional alternatives to ACIP to share information and review vaccine policy. This bill therefore builds on our existing resources by allowing the commissioners to authorize immun- izations recommended by these professional medical organizations, or by interstate groups formed for purposes of reviewing immunizations, in addition to any recommended by ACIP. The bill also requires health insurance coverage of vaccines recommended by these groups, as is required for ACIP-recommended vaccines under state law today. This will give New York flexibility to respond to outbreaks like Mpox or other emerging public health threats without having to rely solely on a panel that may not be able to perform its historical role due to poli- tical interference. If and when ACIP is a functioning body again, the commissioners can also continue to rely on its guidance. "Trump administration attempts coup of the Advisory Committees on Immun- ization Practices," 6/9/25 press release, American Public Health Associ- ation. "Cassidy Calls for Vaccine Committee Meeting to be Postponed Following CDC Departure," 8/28/25 press release, US Sen. Bill Cassidy

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.