UPDATE: Pharmacists Administer Vaccines Companion Bills SB355 HB530 are withdrawn
UPDATE 3/2/2020: SB355/HB530 HAVE BEEN WITHDRAWN!
Thank you members – your activism has made a difference!
CALL TO ACTION: MONDAY 1/27/2020
Companion bills SB355 and HB530 dropped on Friday 1/24/2020:
Health Occupations – Pharmacists – Administration of Vaccinations
The sponsors of these bills need to hear our voices now!
SB355 and HB530 authorize pharmacists to administer vaccines to children as young as 9 years old. It is unacceptable and inappropriate for pharmacists to administer vaccines to children without taking complete medical histories or giving fully informed consent.
Talking points to include, paraphrased in your own words, in your email and phone call:
- Administering vaccines to children is entirely different than administering vaccines to adults. The CDC recommends 72 doses of vaccines for children aged newborn to 18 years; considering a pediatric patient’s complete medical history and full vaccination record is crucial to providing both fully informed consent and safe administration of any vaccine on the recommended schedule for children.
- Caretakers may accompany children to a pharmacy counter without knowing their complete medical history or potential risk factors associated with each vaccine on the CDC recommended schedule for children aged 9-18. It’s inappropriate and unsafe for pharmacists to administer vaccines to children without the information necessary to make safe medical decisions and administer fully informed consent.
- Pharmacists are not fully trained to acquire and assess the detailed medical history of each child who requests a vaccine; nor do they have adequate time or resources to ensure that the adult accompanying the child is the child’s proper guardian and fully aware of both the child’s medical history and the potential risks and potential adverse reactions associated with the vaccines recommended for children aged 9-18.
- Pharmacists are not equipped nor trained to recognize and respond to an immediate adverse reaction, should one occur immediately following a vaccination. Incidence of adverse reactions such as fainting are particularly high immediately following administration of the Gardasil vaccine, which is given to children in this age range.
- Over 50% of children in the U.S., including Maryland, have a serious chronic health condition. One in sixty children in Maryland (2%) and 1 in 37 boys (3%) are on the autism spectrum. One in six children in the U.S. has a developmental disability and that number is rising. Pharmacists administering vaccines to young children may not recognize these disabilities in high functioning children with special needs, and may not properly assess the risks and potential adverse reactions associated with vaccines recommended for children in this age range. Caretakers who accompany children to a pharmacy counter may not be aware of children’s complete medical history or potential risk factors for receiving vaccines recommended for them.
The sponsors of these bills must hear from us today!
SB355:
HB530:
Copy and paste these email addresses and add to the BCC section of the email:
brian.feldman@senate.state.md.us, malcolm.augustine@senate.state.md.us, ariana.kelly@house.state.md.us, susan.krebs@house.state.md.us, robbyn.lewis@house.state.md.us,
Call the offices of these sponsors:
Senator Phone Number
Augustine, Malcolm 410-841-3745 | 301-858-3745
Feldman, Brian J. 410-841-3169 | 301-858-3169
Delegate Phone Number
Kelly, Ariana B. 410-841-3642 | 301-858-3642
Krebs, Susan W. 410-841-3200 | 301-858-3200
Lewis, Robbyn 410-841-3772 | 301-858-3772
Shetty, Emily 410-841-3181 | 301-858-3181
Please spread the word! Let’s flood the sponsors of these bills with polite, respectful, forceful emails and phone calls. They need to hear our voices!
Recent Calls to Action:
1/22/2020: Contact Finance Committee
1/13/2020: Contact HGO Committee
1/13/2020: Contact Sponsor of HB87 Minor Consent Bill
1/13/2020: Contact Sponsor of SB135 Minor Consent Bill
Where is states “Companion bills SB355 and HB530 dropped on Friday 1/24/2020” does that mean that these bills were cancelled and people no longer need to reach out to these representatives?
Sorry that language is confusing! That means the bills were “dropped” into the public record and they are still active. You can click on the bill number in the body of the article to follow the link to the official webpage of each bill, showing its progress.
Please contact the sponsors of these bills if you haven’t already and let them know why they should withdraw their support immediately! Thanks so much for your interest!