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Pritzker Signs Bill Allowing Illinois to Issue State-Specific Vaccine Guidelines
Capitol News Illinois reported:
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill Tuesday that he said will protect Illinois residents from “junk science” undermining evidence-based vaccine regulations at the federal level.
The bill will allow the Illinois Department of Public Health director, currently Dr. Sameer Vohra, to issue state-specific guidelines with input from the state’s Immunization Advisory Committee, a group of doctors, nurses and public health professionals that advise the director.
It will also allow the committee to issue guidance that differs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including to approve vaccines for seasonal respiratory illnesses including the flu, COVID-19 and RSV and routine vaccines MMR and Hepatitis B vaccines.
IDPH will now be able to form guidelines using a combination of the CDC’s guidance, recommendations from the World Health Organization and other medical and scientific disease prevention experts — and require that immunizations recommended by the state be covered by state-regulated insurance plans.
Vaccine Committee May Make Significant Changes to Childhood Schedule
Advisers to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appear poised to make consequential changes to the childhood vaccination schedule, delaying a shot that is routinely administered to newborns and discussing big changes to when or how other childhood immunizations are given.
Decisions by the group are not legally binding, but they have profound implications for whether private insurance and government assistance programs are required to cover the vaccines.
Depending on what the committee does, the changes could also further erode Americans’ confidence in immunizations. Although a majority of Americans still say they are confident about vaccines’ effectiveness, multiple surveys show the percentage has dropped sharply over the last few years. Members of the group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, were handpicked by Mr. Kennedy, who has long campaigned against many childhood vaccines. They are scheduled to meet on Thursday and Friday.
The specific proposals the members will vote on are still unknown. The agenda is thin on details, listing neither specific speakers nor times, merely mentioning “votes” on the first day of the two-day meeting. But public comments by some panelists, as well as by President Trump and Mr. Kennedy, hint at some possible outcomes.
The committee is likely to decide that a vaccine to prevent hepatitis B — a highly contagious disease that can severely damage the liver — should no longer be administered routinely at birth and perhaps should not be offered to children at all.
Whitmer Joins Democratic Governors Calling on the EPA to Monitor Microplastics in Drinking Water
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last week joined governors from six other states signing onto a petition demanding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency add microplastics to its program collecting data on contaminants not currently covered by the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Led by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, the petition requests the EPA include microplastics in the next Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, which would develop a monitoring program for drinking water across the country, potentially leading to further regulation.
Microplastics are small pieces of plastic between one nanometer and five millimeters wide. They have been found in every ecosystem on the planet as well as in food, beverages and in human and animal tissue. While the health impacts of these materials is still being researched, exposure to microplastics is suspected to harm reproductive, digestive and respiratory health and could be linked to colon and lung cancer.
EPA Says It Did Not Approve Pesticides With PFAS
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently approved two new pesticide ingredients that have sparked debate over whether they contain forever chemicals.
The federal agency registered the active ingredient cyclobutrifluram on Nov. 5 for nematicide/fungicide use on turf, ornamentals and romaine lettuce, as well as cotton and soybean seed.
Cyclobutrifluram can be used in rotation with other nematicides to reduce resistance in crops and turf, according to the EPA.
The agency also approved 10 new products on Nov. 20 containing the active ingredient isocycloseram, a broad-spectrum contact insecticide that can be used on agricultural crops, turf and ornamentals, as well as indoor and outdoor uses for commercial, industrial and domestic sites. “This new active ingredient will give farmers an additional tool to help manage crops and grow more food for our country,” the EPA said in a press release.
RFK Jr. And Dr. Oz Say Health Insurers Will Cut Red Tape on ‘Prior Authorizations’
When your doctor decides you could benefit from a particular test or procedure, your insurance company might require documentation to prove it’s necessary before agreeing to pay for anything. Sometimes, this “prior authorization” process requires faxing paperwork, getting denials and going through an appeals process.
Insurers ramped up the red tape in recent years, drawing the ire of patients, doctors and state policy makers who have championed various fixes to rein it in. Now, a coalition of private health insurance companies has voluntarily pledged to standardize and reform this process.
By the end of this calendar year, federal health officials announced in a press conference Monday, the prior authorization process will be significantly better for health care providers and patients.
