Action Alert: Please Ask Senate Finance Committee Members to OPPOSE SB372/HB1232 Which Allows Pharmacists to Administer Vaccines to Toddlers and Children without Appropriate Oversight
Authorizing a pharmacist to order and administer certain vaccinations to an individual who is at least 3 years old but under the age of 18 years if certain requirements are met; altering the age of an individual to whom a pharmacist may administer certain vaccinations; repealing the requirement that a pharmacist administer certain vaccinations under a written protocol; and authorizing a pharmacist to administer certain vaccinations to an adult.
why icm OPPOSES SB372/HB1232
- Pharmacists are not trained or equipped to obtain adequate medical history from each patient before administering vaccines to small children, particularly those aged 3-11. This bill would enable pharmacists to administer vaccines to small children without reviewing the child's medical chart, assessing contraindications, or evaluating the condition of the patient in the hours and days following the administration of the vaccine. Adverse reactions may be undetected and unreported to their primary care provider.
- There is currently no state of emergency justifying the increased risk of expanding the scope of providers licensed to administer vaccines to children without assessing their full medical history and potential risk.
- Although the CDC recently added Covid-19 vaccines to the recommended schedule for children, there is compelling evidence that Covid-19 vaccines confer more risk than benefit to patients aged 3-18. Pharmacists cannot accurately assess the risk versus benefit to pediatric patients they would be licensed to vaccinate with Covid-19 vaccines; nor would they have the means to monitor and assess possible adverse effects or evaluate previous medical history when potentially administering booster doses.
- There is no evidence that expanding the scope of providers licensed to administer vaccines to small children improves health outcomes for those children, while conversely there is a demonstrable risk to children in doing so. There is no compelling reason to pass this bill when there is strong evidence that it will do harm.
There are three ways to submit testimony: written, in-person, and virtual. You can find instructions on how to proceed with giving testimony on HB1232 here.
Please note: You must register to give testimony for SB372 between 8 AM and 3 PM on Monday, February 27th. You must register to give testimony for HB1232 between 8 AM and 3 PM on Monday, March 13th.
Who to contact about SB372/HB1232
There was a hearing for SB372 before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, February 28 at 1:00 PM. You can view that hearing here. You may have already contacted the Senate Finance committee about SB 372. If you did not, we encourage you to do so now, and we ask for the same effort on HB1232 at this time.
There will be a hearing for HB1232 before the Health and Government Operations Committee on Wednesday, March 15th at 1:00 PM.
URGENT: We are asking all members to contact bill sponsors Senator Malcom Augustine and Delegate Lesley Lopez, and the members of the Senate Finance and HGO committees, and tell them, in your own words, why you oppose SB372/HB1232!
Please contact the following bill sponsors to express your opposition.
410-841-3745| 301-858-3745
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3745
410-841-3021| 301-858-3021
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3021
e-mail: lesley.lopez@house.state.md.us
Please copy and paste the following email addresses of the HGO Committee members into the BCC section of your email in opposition to HB1232:
joseline.pena.melnyk@house.state.md.us , bonnie.cullison@house.state.md.us , tiffany.alston@house.state.md.us , heather.bagnall@house.state.md.us , harry.bhandari@house.state.md.us , brian.chisholm@house.state.md.us , pam.guzzone@house.state.md.us , Terri.Hill@house.state.md.us , tom.hutchinson@house.state.md.us , steve.johnson@house.state.md.us , anne.kaiser@house.state.md.us , ken.kerr@house.state.md.us , nicholaus.kipke@house.state.md.us , robbyn.lewis@house.state.md.us , ashanti.martinez@house.state.md.us , Matt.Morgan@house.state.md.us , Teresa.Reilly@house.state.md.us , samuel.rosenberg@house.state.md.us , kathy.szeliga@house.state.md.us, deni.taveras@house.state.md.us , jennifer.white@house.state.md.us , jamila.woods@house.state.md.us
Please copy and paste the following email addresses of the Senate Finance Committee members into the BCC section of your email in opposition to SB372, if you have not previously done so:
melony.griffith@senate.state.md.us , katherine.klausmeier@senate.state.md.us , pamela.beidle@senate.state.md.us , arthur.ellis@senate.state.md.us , dawn.gile@senate.state.md.us , antonio.hayes@senate.state.md.us , steve.hershey@senate.state.md.us , Ben.Kramer@senate.state.md.us , clarence.lam@senate.state.md.us , johnny.mautz@senate.state.md.us , justin.ready@senate.state.md.us
Please call the offices of the HGO Committee members in opposition to HB1232:
Phone 410-841-3502 | 301-858-3502
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3502
Phone 410-841-3883 | 301-858-3883
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3883
Phone 410-841-3139 | 301-858-3139
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3139
Phone 410-841-3406 | 301-858-3406
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3406
Phone 410-841-3526 | 301-858-3526
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3526
Phone 410-841-3083 | 301-858-3083
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3083
Phone 410-841-3378 | 301-858-3378
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3378
Phone 410-841-3582 | 301-858-3582
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3582
Phone 410-841-3280 | 301-858-3280
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3280
Phone 410-841-3036 | 301-858-3036
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3036
Phone 410-841-3240 | 301-858-3240
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3240
Phone 410-841-3772 | 301-858-3772
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3772
Phone 410-841-3652 | 301-858-3652
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3652
Phone 410-841-3278 | 301-858-3278
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3278
Phone 410-841-3297 | 301-858-3297
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3297
Phone 410-841-3101 | 301-858-3101
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3101
Phone 410-841-3744 | 301-858-3744
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3744
Phone 410-841-3544 | 301-858-3544
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3544
Phone 410-841-3127 | 301-858-3127
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3127
Phone 410-841-3620 | 301-858-3620
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3620
Phone 410-841-3593 | 301-858-3593
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3593
Phone 410-841-3616 | 301-858-3616
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3616
Phone 410-841-3568 | 301-858-3568
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3568
Phone 410-841-3656 | 301-858-3656
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3656
Phone 410-841-3639 | 301-858-3639
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3639
Phone 410-841-3151 | 301-858-3151
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3151
Phone 410-841-3653 | 301-858-3653
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3653
Phone 410-841-3590 | 301-858-3590
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3590
Phone 410-841-3683 | 301-858-3683
Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3683
There are three ways to submit testimony: written, in-person, and virtual. You can find instructions on how to proceed with giving testimony on HB1232 here.
Please note: You must register to give testimony for HB1232 between 8 AM and 3 PM on Monday, March 13th.
Please spread the word! Let’s flood the offices of Senator Malcolm Augustin and Delete Lesley Lopez, and the members of the Senate Finance and HGO committees with polite, respectful, forceful emails and phone calls. They need to hear our voices!
Please consider joining ICM’s free Telegram group where you’ll find like minds instead of arguments, as well as helpful resources for navigating vaccine data, mandates, exemptions and more.