New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) signed legislation upholding vaccine mandates for children.
One bill requires health insurers to cover vaccines recommended by the Commissioner of Health to the Superintendent of Financial Services, while another bill removes references to a federal vaccine committee regarding school-related immunization requirements. The latter legislation also permits pharmacists to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to anyone between 2 and 18 years old.
That same legislation, Assembly Bill 10711, calls for children to be vaccinated against poliomyelitis, mumps, measles, diphtheria, rubella, varicella, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), pertussis, tetanus, pneumococcal disease, and hepatitis in “accordance with regulations issued by the commissioner, utilizing generally accepted medical standards and taking into consideration recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and/or other similar nationally or internationally recognized scientific organizations.”
“When public health comes under attack by an anti-science administration, New York fights back,” Hochul said in a statement on the bills. “Sadly, our country has witnessed the deadly consequences of politicizing science and rejecting expert opinion, especially for young people. That’s why this legislation protects access to lifesaving vaccines for New Yorkers of all ages. I thank Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie for partnering with us on this legislation to keep New Yorkers healthy.”
The laws create further distance between Democratic-run states and the Trump administration’s health policies. “President Trump’s mass firing of CDC doctors and scientists — and his blatant politicization of the agency — is a direct assault on the health and safety of the American people,” California Governor Gavin Newsom, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, and Washington Governor Bob Ferguson, said in a joint statement in September. “The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences. California, Oregon, and Washington will not allow the people of our states to be put at risk.”
