Lujan Grisham signs bill allowing New Mexico to set its own vaccine guidelines

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday signed into law the last of five bills passed during the special session, allowing state health officials to set their own guidelines for vaccinations without input from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Senate Bill 3, passed in the Legislature last week, grants the New Mexico Department of Health the authority to use vaccine recommendations from physician groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics instead of federal agencies.

The current CDC guidelines are set by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, staffed entirely by appointees of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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 go into effect Dec. 31 and last until July 1, 2026, though the Legislature could extend them during its next session. Under the bill, medical and religious exemptions from vaccines are still available for children as they were in the past.

The measure passed along party lines, receiving no support from Republicans, who argued the law was unnecessary and confusing for parents.

Lujan Grisham signed SB3 almost a week after the other four bills that passed during last week’s special session. The legislation was originally intended to guarantee New Mexicans access to the COVID-19 vaccine booster despite federal guidelines that required a prescription, though the CDC changed its position on the COVID booster Monday, allowing those seeking the vaccine to use their own “individual-based decision making.”

“The changes in SB3 are vital to safeguarding the health and safety of New Mexicans in light of the United States Department of Health and Human Services’ failure to follow science and make timely and necessary vaccine recommendations,” Lujan Grisham said in a message to the Senate Wednesday.

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.

“I’m deeply disappointed in Republicans for voting to restrict vaccines, but our Department of Health remains committed to vaccine access,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement last week.