Colorado Democrats Act to Preserve Existing Vaccine Framework Amid Federal Changes

By: Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics

At least 20 states have said they are using guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical associations when setting vaccine policies and immunization schedules, in some cases supplementing or diverging from recommendations issued by the Trump administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Colorado is already among the 20, but Democratic lawmakers this week also approved a bill that will require the state Board of Health to consider recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics and other groups, as well as from a federal advisory committee that was recently changed to include vaccine skeptics.

Senate Bill 32 passed the Senate Health & Human Services Committee on a party-line vote on Jan. 29 and was approved by the Senate this week, also on a party-line vote. It now heads to the House.

There’s much more to the bill than the vaccine recommendations. It doesn’t add any vaccine mandates nor change any of the exceptions in current law. Under SB 32, pharmacists would have independent authority to offer immunizations.

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