Bill now returns to House for reconciliation
By Guy Page
The Vermont Senate gave final approval today to authorizing pharmacy techs to administer the Covid-19 vaccination to children as young as five years old.
The Senate version of H305 allows child Covid-19 vaccination by pharmacy techs, whereas the original, House version limited it to adults. An amendment passed by the Senate Government Operations Committee expanded pharmacy tech vaccinations to five years and up. The bill received preliminary approval yesterday and final approval today, with just one senator voting No on a voice vote.
Because it was amended by the Senate, H305 will be returned to the House for its agreement or rejection. Child vaccination could be discussed on the House floor at that time.
The amended bill “trivializes very real vaccine risks and serious reactions by allowing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to administer possibly life-threatening vaccines to young children,” Jennifer Stella of Health Choice Vermont said Friday morning.
The Senate amendment was first raised on April 14, following written testimony April 12 by Deputy Secretary of State Lauren Hibbert. An April 12 letter from the Vermont Retail Druggists headlined ‘Testimony H.305’ refers to oral testimony given sometime the previous week.
Stella raises several objections to pharmacy techs vaccinating young children.
Training. Will pharmacists or pharmacy technicians have the equipment and training to be able to tell the difference between cardiac arrest, anaphylaxis, fainting, and act accordingly to save the lives of small children who react at the time of vaccination?
Doctor-patient relationship. This bill undermines the doctor patient relationship and removes critical health history screenings prior to vaccination. Neither pharmacists nor less qualified pharmacy technicians have the necessary medical history of five year old child or the time to prescreen for contraindications based on a child’s personal and family history and unique heath needs prior to vaccination. Vaccines, just like all pharmaceutical products, can cause injury and death in some people.
Product risks. Neither pharmacists nor pharmacy technicians have enough training on product risks, prescreening, contraindications, emergency interventions for reactions, reporting reactions to Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), and advising parents about the statute of limitations and instructions for filing a claim with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
Adverse reactions. In Vermont alone in just two years COVID shots have been associated with 2,471 adverse events, including death. Flu shots have been associated with about 30 adverse events per year in VT. By contrast, children are not at risk of death from COVID or FLU. These VAERS reports are often discredited by authorities but stand as testimony of the actual consumer experience. VAERS reports are largely submitted by healthcare providers and required by law.