Take Action to Protect Vaccination in New Hampshire
New proposed bills would put access to immunizations at risk for New Hampshire families. Help us stand up for health by taking action to oppose these bills. Here’s what you can do:
Sign in to oppose all three of the immunization-related bills below.
Attend the House Health, Human Services & Elderly Affairs Committee meetings on Wednesday, 3/5, to give opposing testimony for HB 357 & HB 358. Email info@nhpha.org for talking points.
Contact your representatives to express your opposition to these bills.
Share information & encourage action within & across your networks
House Bill 524, to be voted on by the House of Representatives on March 6th, would end NH's current system for providing access to vaccines for children. Currently, insurance companies pay money into a central fund (run by the NH Vaccine Association) that buys vaccines for all children in the state. If this bill passes, doctors' offices would need to buy immunizations upfront and then bill insurance companies directly for children with private insurance.
Families would likely be required to pay co-pays and many provider offices would likely limit the vaccines they provide, forcing families to find alternate vaccination sources at higher costs.
House Bill 357 removes Hepatitis B, varicella, and Hib immunizations from the required vaccination schedule for kids in 2026 and limits the state health commissioner’s ability to add new vaccines to the schedule in cases of disease outbreak. If untreated, Hep B can cause liver damage, including liver cancer.
Varicella can cause skin infections, pneumonia, encephalitis, and birth defects in pregnant women who are infected during pregnancy. Hib can cause meningitis & pneumonia. This bill increases the risk of Hepatitis B, chicken pox, and Haemophilus influenza B outbreaks in schools and communities.
House Bill 358 removes the requirement that parents must complete a form to opt their of children out of vaccinations due to religious exception. This form is currently the only reliable way to track vaccination status for those children who are not vaccinated. Without this form, school and public health staff will not have accurate information about population risks for illness and cannot reliably plan for or respond to keep school communities safe.
Both HB 357 and HB 358 will be in front of the House Health, Human Services & Elderly Affairs Committee on Wednesday, 3/5, at 9:30 AM and 1 PM, respectively.
