New Hampshire’s long-established requirements on vaccines needed to attend public school have not been altered despite recent cutbacks in federal guidelines announced by Robert Kennedy Jr., but several proposed bills in Concord might change that.
On Jan. 5, Kennedy, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said the Centers for Disease Control would reduce the number of recommended vaccines from 17 to 11. That has no immediate effect on New Hampshire since states set their own school vaccine requirements, but it still might affect people, said Tori Jennison, executive director of the nonprofit New Hampshire Public Health Association.
“At the very least, it’s just confusing – what do I need to do for my kids? Will they still be able to go to school?,” Jennison said. “But the longer answer is there’s a potential that after 2026, insurance companies may make different decisions about which vaccines they cover. … If the CDC doesn’t recommend it, then insurance companies might not cover it.”
The move could also embolden vaccine opponents in the State House.
Among a half-dozen bills concerning inoculations to be considered this year are one that would let elected lawmakers rather than medical professionals decide which vaccines are required for public school attendance; another that would drop Hepatitis B from the state’s required list; as well as bills that would strengthen parents’ ability to claim religious exemptions for their children or let parents require that vaccines be given to their children in school only when the parents are present.
The proposals are part of a continuing push by members of the Republican Party to reduce the use of inoculations to help protect Americans from a number of contagious diseases, a push that went into overdrive when Kennedy was appointed by President Trump. Kennedy has long argued that the medical and ethical drawbacks of vaccines and vaccine mandates outweigh the benefits, a position opposed by most doctors and people who work in public health.
On Jan. 5, Kennedy directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to cut the number of recommended vaccines for all children from 17 diseases to 11. The new list says vaccines for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, Covid and the RSV respiratory virus, among others, should only be given based on risk and “shared clinical decision-making” between doctors and parents.
States set their own guidelines on vaccine requirements for school children, but often follow federal recommendations.
The New Hampshire Public Health Association opposed the recommendations and put out a statement confirming that New Hampshire’s vaccine requirements have not changed. Students are required to have vaccinations for polio, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, chicken pox, hepatitis B, measles and mumps.
“These changes are not based on new scientific evidence and bypass the long-standing, independent advisory process that has guided immunization policy in the United States for decades,” the group wrote in a statement.
It encouraged families to follow immunization schedules developed by organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians, “which remain grounded in decades of rigorous scientific research and are endorsed by practicing clinical providers, not political appointees.”
New Hampshire Administrative Rule He-P 301.13-15 requires children enrolled in school, pre-school, or child care to have certain immunizations or an appropriate exemption. Schools and child care providers must also collect immunization records of enrolled children and submit an annual immunization report to the state.