Rep. Higley introduces bill to require Health Department report on adverse reactions to vaccine reporting system

Representative Mark Higley told the House Human Services Committee he will introduce a bill requiring the Vermont Department of Health to submit an annual report to the General Assembly summarizing adverse reactions reported to the vaccine adverse event reporting system.

Higley, a representative from the Orleans-Alamo district, said the bill would direct the Department of Health to compile information including the number of adverse-event reports submitted by health-care practitioners in Vermont to the federal vaccine adverse events reporting system and “a summary of activities undertaken by the department to support Vermont’s filing for compensation pursuant to the National Vaccine Injury Act,” as laid out in the bill text. He noted the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has paid claims and provided awards for medical expenses, lost earnings and pain and suffering for certain vaccine injuries.

Higley also flagged that the draft bill references an existing Vermont statute on reporting “all significant adverse events that occur after vaccination,” and questioned whether the reporting language should be clarified because, in the federal system, any member of the public (not only practitioners) can submit reports. He suggested the Health Department could include in its report additional information such as counts and the cost of emergency-department visits related to reported adverse reactions, but said that would depend on the department’s ability to compile those figures.

Committee members asked whether pharmacists and retail pharmacies are included in the bill’s definition of “health-care providers” for purposes of distributing the report; Higley said statutory definitions will need to be checked and that staff such as Jen Carvey could advise. Chair comments noted the Health Department already maintains a vaccine adverse event reporting system and that the bill chiefly creates a mechanism for the Department to provide a regular legislative report.

No formal vote or committee action occurred during the introduction; committee members signaled questions they would pose to the Health Department if the bill is scheduled for consideration.