A bill to make New Jersey move toward independent or supplemental vaccine guidance is now on the governor's desk.
If signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, New Jersey would join California, Maine, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. in moving this direction.
State Senator Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex) sponsored the bill, also known as S-4894. In a press release, Vitale called this a win for families and healthcare providers that "rely" on consistent evidence-based vaccine guidance.
"This legislation ensures our standards remain rooted in medical expertise, even as federal policy becomes less predictable," said Vitale. "Recent actions, including the federal move to weaken longstanding Hepatitis B vaccine guidance, show how quickly national recommendations can shift without clear evidence or clinical consensus."
Vitale went on to say that "New Jersey should not be dependent on abrupt changes that could undermine confidence in immunizations."
By empowering the Department of Health to consider the full spectrum of expert recommendations, Vitale said "we are building a more resilient and dependable vaccine policy" for the state of New Jersey.
Gregory Quinlan, president and founder of The Center for Garden State Families, is not in favor of this approach.
"They are reacting solely and completely because they don't like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and they don't like Donald Trump," Quinlan told AFN. "So, to do that they have now decided that they will separate themselves from everything federal regarding vaccines, and that includes the advisory committee on immunization practices. These are the experts who study vaccine practices."
Quinlan added that Kennedy and HHS did not stop anybody from getting vaccines.
"He just changed the schedule, but he didn't stop anybody from getting any vaccines," said Quinlan. "If you want to put this into your body, you want to put this into your children's bodies, it is your decision, it's your parental right, so it's a knee jerk reaction."
If this becomes law, Quinlan says the New Jersey Department of Health, with less knowledge than is available at the federal level, will push vaccines onto people as a benefit for insurance companies.
"Schools and workplaces then use these guidelines from the state government for their compliance references," said Quinlan. "They're going to track it and keep a list of who has been vaccinated."
According to Quinlan, "this sounds communist." Quinlan thinks people should contact the governor and urge him to veto the bill.
"Murphy is still the governor until sometime on the day of Jan. 20 when the new governor is sworn-in," said Quinlan. "We are also looking at the constitutionality of this."
