SEN. CABRERA VOTES TO PRESERVE CONNECTICUT’S CURRENT VACCINE STANDARDS FROM TRUMP INTERFERENCE

HARTFORD – Amid frequent changes to federal vaccine policies, state Senator Jorge Cabrera (D-Hamden) and the Connecticut State Senate today passed legislation preserving a standard of care for immunizations and protecting state public health from the Trump administration’s federal rollbacks on essential, common-sense health guidelines.

House Bill 5044, “An Act Establishing Connecticut Vaccine Standards,” establishes a standard of care for immunizations in Connecticut. Its changes are simple: although vaccine access is often tied to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), Connecticut’s vaccine standard will now also incorporate recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

This will effectively allow Connecticut to retain its current vaccination standards regardless of what the Trump administration attempts to dictate.

“We’ve seen Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. strip the CDC of its vaccine expertise and replace its members with yes-men and vaccine skeptics. That’s no way to run a national health care system,” said Sen. Cabrera. “Connecticut has to protect itself from the bad health care decisions of the Trump administration, and that’s what this bill does.”

HB 5044 creates a Vaccines for Adults program, which will provide free vaccines to uninsured and underinsured adults ages 19+ through free clinics, municipal health departments, and other eligible providers, allowing Connecticut increased supply chain flexibility.

HB 5044 allows the Public Health Commissioner to develop respiratory virus vaccine requirements in nursing homes, which already allow non-medical exemptions. Schools, higher education, childcare centers and family care homes, among other agencies, will retain current requirements.

HB 5044 clarifies what the General Assembly intended in 2021 when it voted to remove the non-medical exemption from state vaccination policy, thereby ensuring there are no such exemptions in schools, childcare and college. With about 495,000 schoolchildren currently attending Connecticut schools, HB 5044 preserves Connecticut’s vaccine status quo and keeps children safe from preventable illnesses. Connecticut currently has a best-in-the-nation vaccination rate of 98.2%. Just .02% of Connecticut students have non-medical exemptions compared to 3.4% nationally.

HB 5044 also requires individual and group health insurance policies to cover immunizations on the standard of care and allows pharmacists to administer any vaccine on Connecticut’s own immunization schedule, preserving and expanding access to vaccinations regardless of federal action.

With today’s Senate passage, the bill now heads to Governor Lamont’s desk for his final signature into law.