Overview
- New York lawmakers approved a bill that ends the state’s statutory tie to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and lets the health commissioner rely on groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
- Connecticut’s General Assembly gave final passage to a parallel bill that empowers its public health commissioner to set standards for children and adults and to buy vaccine doses from sources beyond the CDC.
- The Connecticut bill creates a Vaccines for Adults program that will offer free shots to uninsured and underinsured people over 19 through clinics, local health departments, and other eligible providers.
- Both states acted after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced the federal ACIP panel and moved to narrow routine childhood recommendations, steps a federal judge has temporarily blocked while the administration pursues an appeal.
- Debate in both capitals split largely along party lines as Democrats framed the bills as protecting science-based care and Republicans warned of confusion over insurance coverage, liability, and differing standards across states.