States push to keep childhood vaccines free and accessible after CDC changes.

After the CDC altered its childhood vaccine guidance in January, states including Colorado have introduced laws aimed at keeping vaccines free and expanding legal protections for providers.

States are moving to preserve free and accessible childhood vaccinations after the CDC changed its national vaccine recommendations in early January. Lawmakers in at least six states, including Colorado, Alaska, California, Illinois, Maryland and Vermont, have introduced vaccine-related bills. Colorado's Senate Bill 32 would broaden liability protections for health care providers and expand state support for vaccine delivery. According to KFF, 28 states have in various ways diverged from the CDC's new guidance. Reported state measures: - Colorado's Senate Bill 32 would expand malpractice liability protections for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, clinics, hospitals and insurers for childhood vaccines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the CDC's vaccine advisory committee; the bill passed the state Senate and is under consideration in the House. - The Colorado proposal would also allow pharmacists to prescribe and administer vaccines, require insurance coverage for the HPV vaccine, and make state immunization program funds available to cover costs not subsidized by federal programs. - At least six states have introduced vaccine-related bills recently, and KFF reports 28 states have moved away from the CDC's revised childhood vaccine recommendations to varying degrees. - The CDC's new guidance removed universal recommendations for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, RSV, dengue and two types of bacterial meningitis for babies, and the American Academy of Pediatrics and about a dozen other major medical groups reiterated recommendations for childhood vaccination against 18 diseases. - Health experts including Dr. David Higgins and law professor Dorit Reiss have said the federal changes could fragment vaccine policy and disrupt vaccine delivery systems. Summary: States are proposing laws intended to keep childhood vaccines free and to protect health care providers from legal exposure, reflecting a split with the CDC's revised guidance. Colorado's SB32 has passed the Senate and is now before the state House; if enacted, the bill would take effect in August. The broader outcome across other states and whether similar measures will be adopted elsewhere is undetermined at this time.