Bad news. Two bills, S8853 and S8496b that would give Governor Kathy Hochul control over the vaccine schedule in New York were passed yesterday in the Senate. The two bills are intended to consolidate power in the governor and avoid (they hope) any of the reforms of the vaccine schedule coming out of Washington DC.
Get on the phone today and start calling to stop these bills in the Assembly. Begin with your State Assemblymember and let them know you do not want the Assembly version to pass.
The identical bill to S8853 is A9648.
S8496b had an identical bill, A9060, but they are no longer identical, but we anticipate A9060 will be amended to match S8496b again.
These bills allow the Governor and her Commissioner of Health to ignore the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and other federal health agencies, and use recommendations from a variety of trade organizations such as the “American Academy of Pediatrics” or “any interstate body” or “international associations” such as the World Health Organization to justify the use of vaccines in New York.
They are trying to give themselves the power to make any vaccine decision they want without federal oversight. They seem to think that if they eliminate any reference to federal agencies in New York law that somehow, they will no longer be bound by federal law.
Please get on the phone to the offices below and share these key points:
There are many problems from their own perspective with these bills that clearly have not been considered.
Only vaccines that are recommended for routine use by the federal ACIP are eligible for Medicaid or federal Vaccine for Children funding. Almost half of all New York children are covered by Medicaid, with more than $350 million coming from the Vaccine for Children program, not including the costs to administer the shots. Passing these bills will create a huge hole in the New York budget.
Only vaccines that are recommended for routine use by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization practices provide legal immunity to vaccine manufacturers and administrators. If the laws pass, any shots not approved by the ACIP would not have legal immunity for injuries caused by the shots. And no doctor or healthcare company will give vaccines without legal immunity. The Autism Action Network has worked for years to eliminate legal immunity for vaccine injuries, but the fact that they are not even considering this issue just goes to show the haste and lack of thought behind these bills.
The bills could come to a vote in the Assembly committees at any time, so please start working the phones NOW!
TAKE ACTION
Plan to come to Albany on March 24 to fight for our right to control what is injected into our bodies and our children’s bodies.
Use the Panel to the right to send messages to your Assemblymember expressing your opposition to A9060b and A9648.
Call your own Assemblymember and politely let him or her know the many problems with A9060b and A9648 and not to let them pass. Your Assemblymember's contact information should appear below or look it up here: https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/
Call Speaker of the Assembly Carl Heastie and politely let him know the many problems with A9060b and A9648 and him to stop the bills from moving forward
518- 455-3791
Call Asm. Amy Paulin, sponsor of the A9060b and A9648, and politely let her know the many problems with the bill and ask her to hold the bill.
518 455-5585
Call Asm. Alicia Hyndman, Chair of the Higher Education Committee, and politely let her know the many problems with A9060b and ask her to hold the bill.
518 455-4451
Call Asm. David Weprin, Chair of the Higher Education Committee, and politely let him know the many problems with A9060b and ask him to hold the bill.
518 455-5806
TALKING POINTS
Vaccines not approved by the ACIP are not eligible for federal funds, Approximately half of New York children are enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP with the vaccines provided by the programs paid for by the Vaccines for Children Program (VFC). VFC does not pay for vaccines not approved by the ACIP.
More than $350 million from VFC could be lost According to the New York State Controller more than S350 million VFC funds were provided to New York in 2024 for ACIP approved, and only ACIP approved, vaccines.
Vaccine legal immunity is in doubt without federal approval Last month the recommendation for routine administration of a group of vaccines was lifted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) including shots for flu, COVID, hepatitis a, hepatitis b, rotavirus, meningitis ACWY, and meningitis b, and RSV antibodies. According to federal law, a recommendation by the CDC for routine use in children is a requirement for continued legal liability immunity for injuries caused by vaccines. Now that the routine use recommendation has been lifted, HHS allows the use of these shots with individual “shared decision making” between parents and healthcare providers. In those circumstances the shots still have immunity. But in the absence of “shared decision making” the immunity status of a shot is in doubt.
This is a power grab by the Governor and the Health Commissioner These bills allow the Governor and the Governor’s Health Commissioner to choose any organization to justify any decision they want to make for important healthcare decisions with no accountability or oversight.
Vaccine policy decisions are privatized This bill privatizes vaccine approval decisions in New York. The Commissioner would be allowed to defer to private trade organizations like the AAP even though these organizations have direct financial and institutional conflicts of interest and are not answerable to legislators or the public.
Foreign Associations are allowed The bill allows the Commissioner to use the recommendations of foreign organizations such as the World Health Organization which are unanswerable to anyone in the United States and may not even be discussing products permitted in the United States.
The alternative trade associations all have conflicts of interest Asking the AAP if all kids should get a shot is like asking the National Automobile Dealers Association if people should buy cars. The AAP, for example, believes all children should be required to get COVID boosters even though 93% of American parents chose not to get them for their children. And all the groups identified as sources of guidance all have incentives to maximize consumption of products they administer.
“Interstate bodies” are likely unconstitutional In recent months, several confederacies of states have been assembled to provide an alternative to the federal government for states that want to bypass the federal health agencies. These confederacies are likely unconstitutional, especially since they are clearly formed to supplant federal agencies. The “Compact Clause” of the Constitution prohibits states from forming “compacts” without Congressional approval. So far, none of the vaccine confederacies have been approved by Congress.
Please share this information and make all the calls above.