|
UPDATE: 5/24/2024 - HF 5247 was ENACTED; it was signed into law by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and filed with the Secretary of State on 5/24/2024; Chapter 127; Effective date varies. The vaccine provisions in the bill are effective 7/1/2024.
UPDATE: 5/19/2024 - HF 5247 Conference Committee report was adopted by the full House and passed the full House as amended by a vote of 70 Yeas and 50 Nays on 5/19/2024.
UPDATE: 5/19/2024 - HF 5247 Conference Committee report was adopted by the full Senate and passed the full Senate as amended by the Conference Committee by a vote of 34 Yeas and 14 Nays on 5/19/2024.
UPDATE: 5/19/2024 - HF 5247 was gutted and amended in the Conference Committee on 5/19/2024. HF 5247 is now a large government operations bill. View the conference committee report HERE.
This amended version of HF 5247 authorizes pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy interns to initiate, order, and administer vaccines; lowers the vaccination age of patients that are being vaccinated for influenza or COVID-19 by pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy interns from six years of age to three years of age; lowers the vaccination age of patients that are being vaccinated for all United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vaccines by pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy interns from thirteen years of age to six years of age; and removes written protocol created by licensed health practitioner for vaccination administered by pharmacy employee that includes contraindications of the vaccine and the procedure for handling an adverse reaction. This bill also reimburses pediatric health care workers who administer vaccines mandated by Medicare and Medicaid services with federal funds.
SECTION 3. under Article 60 of this bill, related to pharmacy board and practice, amends Minnesota Statutes 2022, Section 151.01, subdivision 27, related to the practice of pharmacy. The changes are summarized as follows:
(6) Authorizes a pharmacist to initiate, order, and administer influenza and COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 vaccines that are authorized or approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to children as young as three years old and all other FDA approved vaccines to patients as young as six years old. This section also authorizes the pharmacist to delegate the authority to administer a vaccine to a pharmacy technician or pharmacy intern who has completed training in vaccine administration, if they meet certain criteria. These changes expand the authority of who can vaccinate to include a pharmacy technician or pharmacy intern and lower the ages of children who can be vaccinated, as the current law allows only pharmacists to administer influenza and COVID-19 vaccines to individuals six years of age or older and all other vaccines to patients thirteen years of age or older.
Additionally, HF 5247 removes parts of (6) that require a written protocol for the vaccination by a physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse and the entirety of (6)(1) that outlines the minimum vaccination protocol from the physician, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse: (A) the name, dose, and route of each vaccine; (B) the patient population for whom the vaccine may be given; (C) contraindications and precautions to the vaccine; (D) the procedure for handling an adverse reaction; (E) the name signature, and address of the physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse; (F) their telephone number; and (G) the date and time period for which the protocol is valid.
(6)(ii) is renumbered to (6)(i) and amended to add that along with the vaccine administration accreditation requirement for a pharmacist in existing law, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy interns who are delegated to administer vaccines must also successfully complete a program approved by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) specifically for the administration of vaccinations or a program approved by the board.
HF 5247 removes (6)(v), which establishes that a pharmacist must comply with the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices vaccination guidelines when administering a vaccine unless giving a vaccine pursuant to a valid, patient-specific order issued by a physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse provided that the order is consistent with the US FDA approved labeling of the vaccine.
(6)(v) is replaced with a new section that adds additional requirements for a pharmacist to delegate authority to administer vaccines to a pharmacy technician or pharmacy intern under paragraph (6) if the following conditions are met: (iv) if the patient is 18 years of age or younger, the pharmacist, pharmacy technician, or pharmacy intern must inform the patient and the adult caregiver of the importance of a well-child visit with a pediatrician; and (v) if a pharmacy technician is administering vaccinations while being supervised by a licensed pharmacist the supervision must (A) be in-person and not done through telehealth as defined under section 62A.673, subdivision 2; (B) the pharmacist must be readily and immediately available to the vaccinating pharmacy technician; (C) the pharmacy technician must have a current certificate in basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR); (D) the pharmacy technician must have completed a minimum of two hours of ACPE-approved vaccine-related continuing pharmacy education as part of the pharmacy technician's two-year continuing education schedule; and (E) the pharmacy technician must have completed one of two training programs listed under Minnesota Rules, part 6800.3850, subpart 1h, item B.
Upon passage, this section of HF 5247 will be effective July 1, 2024.
SECTION 23 of Article 60, related to pharmacy board and practice, in this bill, amends Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 256B.0625, subdivision 39, regarding childhood immunizations, is summarized as follows:
Under subdivision 39, current law establishes that (a) providers who administer pediatric vaccines and who are enrolled as medical assistance providers must enroll in the pediatric vaccine administration program. Medical assistance will pay for the administration of the vaccine to children if eligible. While the current law establishes that medical assistance does not pay for vaccines that are available at no cost from the pediatric vaccine administration program, this new amendment adds that medical assistance will pay for vaccines that are available at no cost if the vaccine qualifies for 100 percent federal funding or are mandated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to be covered outside of the Vaccines for Children program.
Upon passage, paragraph (a) of this section will be effective July 1, 2024, and paragraph (b) will be effective January 1, 2025, or upon federal approval.
The new language replaced by the conference committee on 5/19/2024, makes HF 5247 a large government operations bill that amends many areas of code. NVIC OPPOSES sections of this new amended and engrossed version of HF 5247 related to vaccination and gives it the following title: "Allows pharmacist to order & give vaccines w/out prescription; allows pharmacy personnel to vaccinate minors 6+, Covid-19 & flu vaccines to minors 3+."
NVIC OPPOSES HF 5247 because it puts the health and safety of those receiving vaccines at risk. Pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy interns do not have the same medical training as physicians, nor the knowledge of family and personal medical history to screen for contraindications. Pharmacies are not equipped to deal with vaccine adverse reactions. Additionally, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy interns do not have the necessary medical training to be able to tell the difference between cardiac arrest, anaphylaxis, or fainting and act accordingly to save the lives of individuals who react at the time of vaccination. This bill also expands the number of vaccines that pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy interns can administer, undermines the doctor-patient relationship, and removes critical health history screenings prior to vaccination.
Vaccines, just like all pharmaceutical products, can cause injury and death. As of May 1, 2024, the United States Government has paid out more than $5 billion dollars to vaccine victims through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). As of May 23, 2024, 47,847 deaths and 2,602,082 adverse events were reported to the US government-run Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). NVIC does not take a position on the other sections of these bills that are not related to vaccination.
UPDATE: 5/9/2024 - HF 5247 conference committee was acceded to by the Senate and conferees were appointed on 5/9/2024. Senate conferees are Senators Rest, Dibble, Hauschild, Putnam, and Weber.
UPDATE: 5/7/2024 - HF 5247 was returned to the House as amended by the Senate and the House refused to concur with Senate changes to HF 5247 and requested a conference committee on 5/7/2024. House conferees are Representatives Gomez; Lislegard; Agbaje; Lee, K.; and Norris.
UPDATE: 5/7/2024 - HF 5247 passed the full Senate as amended by a vote of 55 Yeas and 10 Nays on 5/7/2024.
UPDATE: 5/6/2024 - HF 5247 was taken up by the Senate and substituted with the language of SF 5234 first engrossment pursuant to Rule 45 on 5/6/2024. View the substituted bill language HERE. This new substituted version of HF 5247 amends existing law related to taxation. NVIC does not take a position on this substituted version of HF 5247 as it is unrelated to vaccines.
UPDATE: 5/3/2024 - HF 5247 passed the full House as amended by a vote of 68 Yeas and 60 Nays on 5/3/2024.
UPDATE: 4/30/2024 - HF 5247 House Ways and Means Committee report was adopted by the full House on 4/30/2024.
UPDATE: 4/29/2024 - HF 5247 was amended in the House Ways and Means Committee on 4/29/2024. View the committee amendment HF5247A12 HERE. Committee Amendment HF5247A12 is related to taxation. NVIC does not take a position on this amended version of HF 5247 as it is unrelated to vaccines.
UPDATE: 4/24/2024 - HF 5247 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday, April 29, 2024, at 1:00 PM in Room 200 of the State Office Building. View the hearing agenda HERE.
UPDATE: 4/24/2024 - HF 5247 House Taxes Committee report was adopted by the full House and then amended by the full House and re-referred to the House Ways and Means Committee on 4/24/2024. View the House Journal entry HERE. The set of House floor amendments delete everything after the enacting clause and insert new language related to taxation. NVIC does not take a position on this amended version of HF 5247.
UPDATE: 4/4/2024 - HF 5247 was amended in the House Taxes Committee hearing on 4/4/2024. View the committee amendment H5247A1 HERE. This amendment makes changes to Minnesota Statutes 2023, Section 290.0661, related to the Minnesota Child Tax Credit and is unrelated to vaccines. NVIC does not take a position on this amended version of HF 5247.
UPDATE: 4/2/2024 - HF 5247 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Taxes Committee on Thursday, April 4, 2024, at 1:00 PM in Room 5 of the State Office Building. View the hearing agenda HERE.
HF 5247 was introduced in the House and referred to the House Taxes Committee on 4/2/2024. This bill is authored by Representative Aisha Gomez and Representative Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn.
The initially filed HF 5247 updated property taxes and did not mention vaccines or immunizations. NVIC does not take a position on the introduced version of HF 5247.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=House&f=HF5247&ssn=0&y=2024 - text, status, and history of HF 5247
|