Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH PENNACCHIO
District 26 (Essex, Morris and Passaic)
Senator MICHAEL L. TESTA, JR.
District 1 (Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland)
SYNOPSIS
Revises requirements for administration of vaccines to patients.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning vaccinations and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. No vaccine may be administered by a health care practitioner to any patient unless:
(1) at least 48 hours prior to administration of the vaccine, the practitioner furnishes to the to the patient, or to the patient’s parent or guardian in the case of a patient who is an unemancipated minor:
(a) a copy of the vaccine insert produced by the manufacturer of the vaccine for inclusion in the packaging materials for the vaccine;
(b) a copy of the vaccine excipient summary prepared by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and
(c) information concerning the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) co-managed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United States Food and Drug Administration, which information shall include an overview of the VAERS, instructions on how to report vaccine injuries, a copy of the Reportable Events Table, and a copy of the Vaccine Injury Table;
(2) the practitioner provides the patient, or the patient’s parent or guardian, in the case of a patient who is an unemancipated minor, with the option to opt out of receiving the vaccine, along with a description of the potential implications of opting out of the vaccine, including the risks of contracting or transmitting a communicable infectious disease and the potential that the patient may not be allowed to attend school unless the patient obtains a medical or religious exemption from student immunization requirements for that vaccine; and
(3) the patient, or the patient’s parent or guardian, as applicable, returns a signed copy of the vaccine insert confirming the patient consents to receive the vaccine.
b. A health care practitioner may not refuse to provide health care services to a patient or seek to transfer care of the patient to another health care practitioner solely on the basis of the patient’s refusal to receive a vaccine.
2. This act shall take effect 30 days after the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill revises the requirements to administer vaccines to patients. Specifically, the bill requires that, at least at least 48 hours prior to administration of the vaccine, the health care practitioner who will administer the vaccine is to furnish to the to the patient, or to the patient’s parent or guardian in the case of a patient who is an unemancipated minor: (1) a copy of the vaccine insert for the vaccine; (2) a copy of vaccine excipient summary prepared by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is a list of vaccine ingredients that are in addition to weakened or killed disease antigens; and (3) information concerning the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) co-managed the CDC and the United States Food and Drug Administration, including an overview of the VAERS, instructions on how to report vaccine injuries, a copy of the Reportable Events Table, and a copy of the Vaccine Injury Table. a vaccine may be administered only if the patient, or the patient’s parent or guardian, returns a signed copy of the vaccine insert confirming the patient consents to receive the vaccine.
The health care practitioner will additionally be required to provide the patient, or the patient’s parent or guardian, as applicable, with the option to opt out of receiving the vaccine, along with a description of the potential implications of opting out of the vaccine, including the risks of contracting or transmitting a communicable infectious disease and the potential that the patient may not be allowed to attend school unless the patient obtains a medical or religious exemption from student immunization requirements for that vaccine.
The bill provides that a health care practitioner may not refuse to provide health care services to a patient or seek to transfer care of the patient to another health care practitioner solely on the basis of the patient’s refusal to receive a vaccine.