Gov. JB Pritzker signed off Tuesday on a plan to codify recent executive orders to strengthen access to vaccines, regardless of changes at the federal level.[Health News Illinois]

The law makes several changes to the Department of Public Health’s Immunization Advisory Committee, including specifics on who can serve on the board and for how long. It also outlines how the group can advise the state agency on ways to control diseases that vaccines or other medical countermeasures can prevent.

Another provision codifies when eligible providers in pharmacies and other clinical settings can administer certain vaccines recommended by the state agency. Pharmacists cannot give vaccines listed in the state’s immunization schedule to children under the age of seven.

State insurers must cover vaccines and medical countermeasures under the state’s guidelines.

The law also expands the authority of IDPH’s chief medical officer to issue guidance and recommendations on immunizations or medical countermeasures, either in the absence of such recommendations from the agency director or to further supplement recommendations.

Pritzker said during a bill signing in Chicago that the law will continue to bolster the state’s ability to dictate vaccine policy.

“This law empowers IDPH and the Illinois Immunization Advisory Committee to safeguard vaccine access and maintain science-based recommendations,” he said.

IDPH issued vaccine guidance this September, which differed from federal policy as it relates to COVID-19 vaccines.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year fired all members of the independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices board. New members of the committee, appointed by Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., have looked to roll back access to COVID-19 vaccines and have raised concerns about some pediatric vaccines.

The new chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices told the Washington Post on Tuesday that the panel plans to vote this week to end universal hepatitis B vaccination at birth and to scrutinize whether childhood shots cause allergies.

Dr. Marielle Fricchione, a pediatric infectious diseases doctor at Rush Children's Hospital and chair of the state-based immunization committee, said they will follow the outcome of this week’s federal meeting and respond “to any changes that are made that are against scientific consensus.”

“I look forward to chairing a committee with more diverse expertise, a committee that's more nimble, a committee that's more empowered to help the state issue evidence-based immunization guidelines,” Fricchione said.

IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said Tuesday that the federal changes have upended the “time-honored processes for evaluating and improving immunizations” and have led to inaccurate and politicized messaging meant to confuse residents.

“We understand that families have questions, especially in times of uncertainty, but it's that much more important that when those questions are presented, that they get access to healthcare based on the most reliable science based information available,” he said.

The law also includes several non-vaccine-related health provisions. That includes tasking the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to provide a grant to a statewide pharmacy association to support pharmacies across Illinois.

The program would target critical access care pharmacies, independent businesses and those that operate in medically underserved communities. It will be funded by fees collected from pharmacy benefit managers, which were established in the PBM reform package passed this spring.

It also clarifies when the PBM law would apply to Employee Retirement Income Security Act plans.

###