Two pieces of legislation aimed at protecting access to vaccines in New York were signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul Friday morning. One of the bills requires that health insurers, in addition to the vaccines recommended by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP), cover vaccines recommended by the state's Health Commissioner to the Superintendent of Financial Services, utilizing generally accepted medical standards and taking into consideration recommendations by nationally or internationally recognized scientific organizations. The second bill removes references to ACIP in the Public Health Law, Education Law and Social Services Law, and authorizes pharmacists to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to children ages 2-18. Currently, pharmacists are only authorized by state law to administer the vaccine to adults.
Both measures were introduced in March in coordination with State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. Hochul says the two new laws are in response to the Trump Administration's efforts to "undermine the scientific consensus around the safety and efficacy of immunization."
