Lujan Grisham has two weeks to act on bill allowing state to set its own vaccine guidelines

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has two weeks to act on a bill that would allow state health officials to use other authorities besides the federal government when setting vaccine guidelines for New Mexicans.

Senate Bill 3, which passed in the Legislature last week, grants the state of New Mexico the ability to use vaccination recommendations from the state’s Department of Health and from physician groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics. The current guidelines are set by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staffed by appointees of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy — who made sweeping changes to federal vaccine policy this year — fired all 17 members of ACIP in June and replaced seven of them.

The bill gives the NMDOH the ability to purchase vaccines other than the ones recommended by the CDC, requires that the immunizations be covered in full by state health insurance plans, and allows state vaccine requirements for children to enroll in school or child care that diverge from federal standards.

The changes would last until July 1, 2026, though the Legislature could extend them. Under the bill, children can still get medical or religious exemptions from vaccines as they did before.

On Friday, Lujan Grisham signed into law the four other bills that passed during the Legislature’s special session, making changes to health care, food security and criminal competency. The governor has until noon on Oct. 22 to act on the vaccine bill, Lujan Grisham spokesperson Jodi McGinnis Porter wrote in an email to the Journal, or it will become a pocket veto.

SB3 passed with a vote along party lines — no Republicans voted for the measure — but failed to achieve the two-thirds majority required to make the law effective immediately. As such, if the governor does sign the bill, it would become law on Dec. 31.

Legislators debated SB3 for several hours last week. The measure faced opposition from Senate Republicans, including Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, who told the Senate that conflicting data from multiple authorities would increase vaccine skepticism.

“This is going to leave parents not knowing who to trust,” Block said.

The bill ultimately won a majority vote after Senate Democrats argued that it would not fully eliminate insight from federal vaccine authorities, but would instead allow lawmakers to consider additional opinions from physicians and from state authorities.

The state health department has already diverged from ACIP recommendations this year. When federal guidelines recommended prescriptions for COVID-19 booster shots — which meant pharmacies wouldn’t administer them without a doctor’s order — state DOH officials issued a public health order to “remove barriers” to the COVID vaccine and ensure its access.

Twenty-two states, including New Mexico, use nonfederal entities to establish vaccine guidelines, either in addition to or instead of the CDC, as of Sept. 22, according to health policy nonprofit KFF. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in September also issued an executive order declaring a disaster in response to the federal government’s vaccine-related policies.

On Monday, the CDC changed its guidelines to fall in line with the state of New Mexico’s order, allowing COVID-19 vaccine booster shots without a prescription. The agency also advised that the chickenpox vaccination be given separately from the combined measles, mumps and rubella shot given to children under four years old.

Still, SB3 is “not necessarily unnecessary,” McGinnis Porter said.

The New Mexico Pharmacists Association supported the bill, and Executive Director Lex Garcia said the legislation was part of a broader move ensuring “flexibility and reliance on multiple reputable sources for clinical decision making.”

“(The association) strongly supports evidence-based clinical decision making and believes that broadening the resources and guidelines available to pharmacists ensures patients receive care based on the most up-to-date and trusted information — whether federally or state-issued,” Garcia said.