(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he has signed into law legislation protecting the ability of Connecticut residents to continue accessing life-saving vaccines amid recent political actions at the federal level that threaten standards supported by the medical community for generations.
The legislation is House Bill 5044, An Act Establishing Connecticut Vaccine Standards.
“When thousands of cases of measles threatened communities across America this year, Connecticut had zero cases. That doesn’t happen by accident. This legislation ensures that no matter what happens in Washington, Connecticut’s immunization standards stay grounded in science and keep proven vaccines available and affordable,” Governor Lamont said. “At a time when national vaccine guidance faces growing uncertainty, these changes empower doctors to make decisions based on evidence and to give families the reliable information they deserve. I appreciate the many members of the Connecticut General Assembly who voted in favor of this bill to support the ability of people to access vaccines and protect themselves from illness. Connecticut residents, including our most vulnerable, deserve public health policies based on the science, not skepticism and politics.”
Last year, the Trump administration, under the leadership of appointee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., removed all 17 sitting members of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replaced them with new appointees – at least several of whom have been directly tied to the vaccine skepticism movement. Since then, the committee has made attempts to overhaul long-held U.S. vaccine policies by removing vaccines from standard of care schedules and deviating from rigorous, peer-reviewed research that has formed the basis of public health policy in the U.S. for decades.
More than 100 medical associations and groups – including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America – recently published a letter about the dangers posed by these changes at ACIP, stating, “ACIP was established to provide evidence-based guidance on the use of immunizations to prevent diseases, but the revised charter [that ACIP published on April 9] paves the way for an unqualified committee to promote misleading narratives about vaccine safety.”
The legislation signed today by Governor Lamont most notably removes the requirement under existing Connecticut statutes that the state’s vaccine standards be linked to those set by this federal committee, and establishes the methods needed for the state to preserve the current vaccine standards. This move also ensures that pharmacists in Connecticut can continue to administer these vaccines, and that all state regulated individual and group insurance plans will continue covering their costs. The bill also establishes a voluntary adult flu vaccine pilot program to help patients access free flu vaccines if they are uninsured or underinsured.