KINGSTON, N.Y. — State Sen. Michelle Hinchey said Thursday that Gov. Kathy Hochul has submitted a legislative package that includes one of her bills, which she says will allow New York to follow state-level vaccine guidance in response to the Trump administration’s dismissal of experts from a federal advisory panel that shapes nationwide immunization policy.
The bill, known as the Vaccine Integrity Act, was first introduced by Hinchey, D-Saugerties, in September.
Hinchey said Thursday that Hochul submitted a legislative package mirroring Hinchey’s Vaccine Integrity Act to be taken up by the Legislature.
“I introduced the Vaccine Integrity Act to protect public health from federal misinformation that is putting conspiracy over trusted science, and I’m proud that my bill not only passed the Senate this year but prompted the Governor to send near-identical bills to be acted on by the State Legislature,” Hinchey said in a statement. “Every New Yorker must have the resources to protect themselves from preventable disease, and these bills will deliver exactly that — ensuring New York’s vaccine guidance comes from medical experts and that no senior or family pays out of pocket to cover the cost of lifesaving care. I look forward to seeing these measures signed into law, and I thank the Governor for answering our call.”
Hinchey’s office has said that the Vaccine Integrity Act would authorize the New York State Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education, to authorize immunizations based on guidance from two existing expert bodies in New York, or an interstate advisory council on vaccines in the event New York joins one, in addition to the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The bill came as Hochul signed an executive order allowing pharmacists to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to patients as young as 3.
State-level guidance would come from the Immunization Advisory Council (IAC), which includes pediatric, epidemiology, and public health professionals, and the 21st Century Disease Elimination Workgroup, which combines Immunization Advisory Council members with staff from the state Department of Health’s immunization division, Hinchey said.
Additionally, health plans would be required to cover any vaccines recommended by these state or interstate organizations, as they are currently required by law to cover any recommendations by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Hinchey’s office said.
“This approach expands New York’s ability to respond to outbreaks like Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Mpox, and other emerging public health threats without relying solely on a federal panel that may be unable to perform its historical role,” Hinchey’s office said at the time.
Hinchey’s office stated then that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which has guided the nation’s vaccine policies for decades since its formation in the 1960s, has undergone an “unprecedented political purge” under Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist. Hinchey’s office has said that Kennedy removed all 17 members and replaced them with eight new appointees with varying professional backgrounds, “some of whom have promoted vaccine misinformation and health conspiracies.”