Lamont’s vaccine bill HB 5044 gets final passage in Connecticut Senate

Connecticut Democrats flexed their majority muscles on Thursday evening, giving final passage to a fiercely debated vaccine bill with over a week still left to go in the legislative session.

The uncharacteristically early 22-12 Senate vote came just two days after the House voted 89-60 in favor of the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said the chamber took it up so quickly because of the critical need for the state to address the alarming public health changes at the federal level.

“Attacks on vaccine science, cuts to public health infrastructure and measles outbreaks in states that have loosened their immunization standards demonstrate the need for urgency in Connecticut,” said Duff in a statement. “Connecticut has an obligation to act quickly and decisively. That is why we moved on this bill today.”

The proposal, backed by Gov. Ned Lamont, would expand the power of the state’s Public Health Commissioner to establish vaccine recommendations for both adults and children, guarantee insurance coverage of recommended shots and allow the agency to purchase doses from sources other than the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hundreds of members of the public came out against the bill during a March hearing. Over 500 people signed up to speak and, several hours into the hearing, the vast majority of those who testified had opposed the measure, calling it an example of government overreach and erosion of religious freedom.

Connecticut had the highest MMR, or measles, mumps and rubella, vaccination rates in the nation among kindergarteners for the 2024-25 school year.

During the debate on the floor, Senate Republicans took issue with several parts of the legislation, including that even though Democrats argue that the DPH commissioner’s vaccine recommendations, or “standard of care,” isn’t a mandate, it could still have very real implications in the lives of doctors and patients.

Republican lawmakers raised amendments to protect doctors from legal action if their patients chose not to follow the “standard of care” and to prohibit discrimination by employers and insurers against residents who choose not to follow the “standard of care.” They all failed.

Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, co-chair of the Public Health Committee, said he empathized in particular with fears surrounding insurers, but said he didn’t want to risk sending the bill back to the House if amended and suggested the legislature find another way to address the issue in the future.

Lamont has previously said the bill is meant to “to speak clearly on the importance of vaccines” amidst “mixed messages” from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the leadership of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Last year, Kennedy ousted and replaced all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP. He also reduced the number of immunizations recommended broadly for all children from 17 to 11.

In March, a federal judge issued an order temporarily blocking every major vaccine policy change made in the last year, ruling that Kennedy and the ACIP committee had ignored the traditional scientific process for establishing recommendations.

As of January, 27 states and the District of Columbia now deviate from federal guidelines for some or all childhood vaccines, according to KFF Health News.

Republicans and Democrats historically held similar views concerning vaccines. But since the pandemic, trust in vaccinations has eroded along party lines.

As of 2025, upwards of 85% of Democrats agreed with public school vaccine requirements, but only roughly half of Republicans reported the same, down from 79% in October 2019, according to a survey from Pew Research Center.

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This story was originally published by The Connecticut Mirror and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.