(a) The Commissioner of Public Health shall determine the standard of care for immunization for the children of this state. The standard of care for immunization shall be based on the recommended schedules for active immunization for normal infants and children published by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians. The commissioner shall establish, within available appropriations, an immunization program which shall: (1) Provide vaccine at no cost to health care providers in Connecticut to administer to children so that cost of vaccine will not be a barrier to age-appropriate vaccination in this state; (2) with the assistance of hospital maternity programs, provide all parents in this state with the recommended immunization schedule for normal infants and children, a booklet to record immunizations at the time of the infant's discharge from the hospital nursery and a list of sites where immunization may be provided; (3) inform in a timely manner all health care providers of changes in the recommended immunization schedule; (4) assist hospitals, local health providers and local health departments to develop and implement record-keeping and outreach programs to identify and immunize those children who have fallen behind the recommended immunization schedule or who lack access to regular preventative health care and have the authority to gather such data as may be needed to evaluate such efforts; (5) assist in the development of a program to assess the vaccination status of children who are clients of state and federal programs serving the health and welfare of children and make provision for vaccination of those who are behind the recommended immunization schedule; (6) access available state and federal funds including, but not limited to, any funds available through the federal Childhood Immunization Reauthorization or any funds available through the Medicaid program; (7) solicit, receive and expend funds from any public or private source; and (8) develop and make available to parents and health care providers public health educational materials about the benefits of timely immunization.

(b) (1) Commencing October 1, 2011, one group health care provider located in Bridgeport and one group health care provider located in New Haven, as identified by the Commissioner of Public Health, and any health care provider located in Hartford who administers vaccines to children under the federal Vaccines For Children immunization program that is operated by the Department of Public Health under authority of 42 USC 1396s may select under said federal program, and the department shall provide, any vaccine licensed by the federal Food and Drug Administration, including any combination vaccine and dosage form, that is (A) recommended by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and (B) made available to the department by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(2) Not later than June 1, 2012, the Commissioner of Public Health shall provide an evaluation of the vaccine program established in subdivision (1) of this subsection to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health. Such evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, an assessment of the program's impact on child immunization rates, an assessment of any health or safety risks posed by the program, and recommendations regarding future expansion of the program.

(3) (A) Provided the evaluation submitted pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection does not indicate a significant reduction in child immunization rates or an increased risk to the health and safety of children, commencing October 1, 2012, (i) any health care provider who administers vaccines to children under the federal Vaccines For Children immunization program that is operated by the Department of Public Health under authority of 42 USC 1396s may select, and the department shall provide, any vaccine licensed by the federal Food and Drug Administration, including any combination vaccine and dosage form, that is (I) recommended by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and (II) made available to the department by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and (ii) any health care provider who administers vaccines to children may select, and the department shall provide, subject to inclusion in such program due to available appropriations, any vaccine licensed by the federal Food and Drug Administration, including any combination vaccine and dosage form, that is (I) recommended by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, (II) made available to the department by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and (III) equivalent, as determined by the commissioner, to the cost for vaccine series completion of comparable available licensed vaccines.

(B) Commencing January 1, 2013, (i) any health care provider who administers vaccines to children under the federal Vaccines For Children immunization program that is operated by the Department of Public Health under authority of 42 USC 1396s shall utilize, and the department shall provide, any vaccine licensed by the federal Food and Drug Administration, including any combination vaccine and dosage form, that is (I) recommended by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and (II) made available to the department by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and (ii) any health care provider who administers vaccines to children shall utilize, and the department shall provide, subject to inclusion in such program due to available appropriations, any vaccine licensed by the federal Food and Drug Administration, including any combination vaccine and dosage form, that is (I) recommended by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, (II) made available to the department by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and (III) equivalent, as determined by the commissioner, to the cost for vaccine series completion of comparable available licensed vaccines.

(C) For purposes of subparagraphs (A)(ii) and (B)(ii) of this subdivision, “comparable” means a vaccine (i) protects a recipient against the same infection or infections, (ii) has similar safety and efficacy profiles, (iii) requires the same number of doses, and (iv) is recommended for similar populations by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(4) (A) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply in the event of a public health emergency, as defined in section 19a-131, or an attack, major disaster, emergency or disaster emergency, as those terms are defined in section 28-1.

(B) Nothing in this subsection shall require a health care provider to procure a vaccine from the Department of Public Health when such provider is directed by said department to procure such vaccine from another source, including, but not limited to, during a declared national or state vaccine shortage.

(C) Nothing in this subsection shall require a health care provider to utilize or administer a vaccine provided by said department if, based upon such provider's medical judgment, (i) administration of such vaccine is not medically appropriate, or (ii) the administration of another vaccine that said department is not authorized to supply under subdivision (3) of this subsection is more medically appropriate.

(5) No health care provider shall seek or receive remuneration for or sell any vaccine serum provided by said department under this section. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a health care provider from charging or billing for administering a vaccine.

(6) Not later than January 1, 2014, said department shall submit a report to the General Assembly, in accordance with section 11-4a, evaluating the effectiveness of implementing expanded vaccine choice and universal health care provider participation.

(c) Not later than October 1, 2012, the Department of Public Health shall (1) post on its Internet web site its most current policy regarding vaccine wastage. Such policy shall include a statement of the factors said department used to determine such policy and shall be updated as necessary to reflect the most current policy in effect, and (2) make a form available to health care providers for the purpose of reporting to said department instances when a health care provider does not receive a full order of a requested vaccine. Not later than January 1, 2013, and biannually thereafter, said department shall, within available resources, track, record and investigate all such reported instances and shall post aggregate findings of such instances and the reasons for such findings on said department's Internet web site.

(P.A. 91-327, S. 1, 8; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-8, S. 23, 88; P.A. 10-117, S. 79; P.A. 11-242, S. 81; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1, S. 211, 212.)

History: P.A. 93-381 replaced commissioner of health services with commissioner of public health and addiction services, effective July 1 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-8 added reference to state funds in Subdiv. (6), added new Subdiv. (7) re soliciting funds and redesignated existing Subdiv. (7) as Subdiv. (8), effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 10-117 added provision re determination by commissioner and replaced provision requiring standard of care to be schedule published by committee on infectious diseases of American Academy of Pediatrics or by National Immunization Practices Advisory Committee with provision requiring standard of care for immunization to be based on schedules published by National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee, American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Family Physicians, effective June 8, 2010; P.A. 11-242 designated existing provisions as Subsec. (a) and amended same by deleting “as determined by the Commissioner of Public Health” and added Subsec. (b) establishing a vaccine program that allows certain health care providers located in Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford access to any vaccine licensed by federal Food and Drug Administration, effective July 1, 2011; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1 added Subsec. (c) re vaccine wastage policy and reporting when full order of vaccine is not received, effective June 15, 2012, and amended Subsec. (b) to redesignate Subdiv. (3) as Subdiv. (3)(A) and amend same to change commencement date of voluntary vaccine program from July 1, 2012, to October 1, 2012, add provision re vaccine program for health care providers who administer vaccines to children and make conforming changes, add Subdiv. (3)(B) and (C) re mandatory vaccine program, redesignate Subdiv. (4) as Subdiv. (4)(A), add Subdiv. (4)(B) and (C) re exceptions for mandatory vaccine program, and add Subdivs. (5) and (6) re prohibition on remuneration or selling of vaccine serum and department report to General Assembly, effective October 1, 2012.