{"id":141,"date":"2026-04-30T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/lynn-schulman\/?p=141"},"modified":"2026-05-01T16:00:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T16:00:37","slug":"amny-city-council-moves-bills-to-promote-vaccines-in-nyc-as-federal-government-under-rfk-jr-rolls-back-requirements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/lynn-schulman\/2026\/04\/30\/amny-city-council-moves-bills-to-promote-vaccines-in-nyc-as-federal-government-under-rfk-jr-rolls-back-requirements\/","title":{"rendered":"amNY – City Council moves bills to promote vaccines in NYC as federal government, under RFK Jr., rolls back requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sadie Brown<\/mark><\/p>\n

City Council\u00a0leaders said Thursday that it would lead the charge on promoting vaccines and public health in New York in an era when the federal government has effectively withdrawn from that effort.<\/p>\n

Speaker Julie Menin, Committee on Health Chair Lynn Schulman, Committee on Education Chair Eric Dinowitz and Committee on Oversight & Investigations Chair Shekar Krishnan promised that the council was poised to vote to adopt a package of bills they say will combat misinformation and disinformation about vaccines. <\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aWhen the federal government is deregulating, it is up to cities to take the lead,\u201d Menin told reporters Thursday outside the Tweed Courthouse in Manhattan. She pointed the finger of blame at Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,\u00a0a notorious vaccine skeptic, who has directed the agency to\u00a0roll back recommendations for childhood vaccinations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe very person who\u2019s supposed to be in charge of public health is actually the perpetrator of a lot of this misinformation,\u201d the speaker added. \u201cSo today, we are taking the lead, the New York City Council is taking the lead and sharing facts of that fiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council leaders are particularly concerned about the rise of preventable, communicable diseases like measles, which have seen steep increases in states like South Carolina, Utah, Texas, Florida, and Arizona in recent months. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has\u00a0tracked over 1,800 cases of measles in 2026 so far this year.\u00a0Four of those cases have been in New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aAs the numbers show, the consequences of spreading lies about the life-saving impact of vaccines can be deadly,\u201d Menin said. \u201cThe erosion of public trust in science doesn\u2019t just increase health risk for its own band of followers. It also puts our wider community in jeopardy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bills proposed multiple avenues to distribute reliable and accurate information on vaccines: through the\u00a0Department of Mental Health and Hygiene,\u00a0the\u00a0Department of Education and NYC Public Schools, social media campaigns and medical and community centers around the city.<\/p>\n

\n

Schulman also proposed ramping up access to vaccines for New Yorkers by authorizing more professionals, including dentists, to administer them and requiring insurance companies to cover vaccination costs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cIf it were up to the federal government, we\u2019d all be sick, we\u2019d all be unhealthy, and some people would die as a result of that,\u201d Schulman said. \u201cVaccines are the best way to make sure that people are healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

CDC data shows that kindergarten vaccination rates have continued to decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 16 states falling below 90% MMR vaccine coverage of kindergarteners in the 2024-2025 school year compared with just 3 states in the 2019-2020 school year. New York\u2019s MMR Kindergarten vaccination rate for 2024-2025 is 97.8%<\/p>\n

amNewYork asked council members how they planned to reach New Yorkers who may be skeptical or hesitant to have their children vaccinated, especially those who are enrolled in private, parochial, religious or charter schools.<\/p>\n

Dinowitz emphasized one bill in the package, which he sponsored, that would identify the city\u2019s ZIP codes with the lowest vaccination rates and create targeted messaging about the importance of vaccines for public health and safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot every child is in a public school, but every child does need to be healthy,\u201d Dinowitz said.<\/p>\n

Link to story: https:\/\/www.amny.com\/lifestyle\/city-council-bills-vaccines-nyc-rfk-jr\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sadie Brown<\/p>\n

City Council\u00a0leaders said Thursday that it would lead the charge on promoting vaccines and public health in New York in an era when the federal government has effectively withdrawn from that effort.<\/p>\n

Speaker Julie Menin, Committee on Health Chair Lynn Schulman, Committee on Education Chair Eric Dinowitz and Committee on Oversight &<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

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