Illinois can now issue its own guidelines about when and how people should receive vaccines and what shots insurers must cover — regardless of what the federal government recommends.
State lawmakers say the new law is the first of its kind. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed it just days before a federal vaccine panel plans to vote on major changes to America’s childhood immunization schedule. Illinois is among several Democratic-led states developing their own systems to assess vaccines, an attempt to address warnings by some public health officials that the Trump administration has politicized vaccine science.
In June, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., fired members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel and replaced them with advisers aligned with his vaccine-skeptical views. The remade panel voted to tighten eligibility for covid shots in September. And this week, it will decide whether to stop recommending that all newborns be given a vaccine for hepatitis B, a virus that can cause liver damage and cancer.
HHS officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday on the Illinois law.
Speaking Tuesday at the news conference where he signed the measure, Pritzker said it was necessary to protect Illinois residents as “conspiracy theories and dangerous misinformation about vaccines are running around Washington.”
The law will give the Illinois public health department the power to issue vaccine guidance based on advice from its own expert advisory committee, breaking from the tradition of following the recommendations from the CDC’s the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The Illinois statute also will require that state-regulated insurers cover vaccines recommended by the state panel for Illinois residents, regardless of what the CDC decides.
Kennedy’s plans to change U.S. vaccine policies have prompted states to band together to figure out how to respond to federal public health initiatives and offer immunizations if they are no longer recommended by the CDC and its advisers. Illinois joined a 15-state public health alliance that formed in October.
These actions allow Illinois to diverge from the federal guidance if health agencies act against long-held public health standards, said Kevin Griffis, spokesperson for the Vaccine Integrity Project, a coalition of health insurers, vaccine makers and other groups that are also exploring alternative methods to protect long-standing immunization practices.
“That’s what a lot of states are confronting right now, and they’re trying to figure out: ‘How do we maintain a system that’s based in data and not ideology?’” Griffis said.
Public health experts have warned that contradictory guidance between state and federal governments could lead to unprecedented confusion among doctors and patients.
Their warnings have intensified of late. Last month, the CDC revised its website to break with the long-settled scientific conclusion that vaccines do not cause autism. Beyond vaccines, the Trump administration this fall linked Tylenol to autism without definitive evidence and advised pregnant women against taking the painkiller.
On Tuesday, Pritzker called the administration’s public health actions another effort to “pull the rug out from under American families.”
Illinois lawmakers approved their new measure, which was first introduced late last year, on party-line votes. It was backed by the state’s top health organizations, several municipal public health departments, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. AHIP, a major health insurance trade group, opposed the bill over concerns that state-specific policies could make insurance more expensive for employers and employees.
State Rep. Bill Hauter (R), while debating the bill, characterized it as politically motivated, based on Democratic politicians’ disdain for President Donald Trump.
“The majority is going to pass this bill because they want to show how much they hate Trump,” said Hauter, who voted against passage.
AHIP has said it would cover the cost of vaccines previously recommended by the CDC advisory panel through the end of 2026. The new Illinois law requires state-regulated insurers to cover state-recommended vaccines for Illinois residents starting Jan. 1.
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