Vaccines

From polio to measles, decades of vaccine development and distribution have effectively knocked out many of the most feared and deadly infectious diseases. But today, a surge in the scope and power of vaccine hesitancy threatens to reverse that progress and derail public health all over Texas and the United States. Several new confirmed measles cases in Texas in January 2025 – all in unvaccinated patients – provided one recent warning sign for what increasing apathy or hostility to immunizations may bring.

The Texas Hospital Association is committed to preserving robust uptake of immunizations with a deeply established, proven history rooted in science and results. THA also supports the rights of hospitals and other health care facilities to make operating decisions – such as instituting vaccine requirements – based on the needs of their own hospital environment and their communities.

On guard: Policies to protect against

THA will continue to oppose legislation that:

• Attempts to weaken any requirements to receive childhood vaccines;
• Encourages Texans to receive an exemption from these proven immunizations as a matter of convenience.
• Takes away hospitals’ ability to institute requirements for employees or patients to be vaccinated for infectious diseases – a step all facilities should have the flexibility to take in order to adjust to the needs of their hospital and local populations.

The COVID Carryover: 2023 in Review

Skepticism over the COVID-19 vaccine – which drove key legislation during the 2023 sessions of the Texas Legislature – appears to have led to increased suspicion of the safety and efficacy of longer-standing childhood vaccines, giving new heft to attempts to unwind any and all vaccine requirements.

For example, the Legislature in 2023 passed Senate Bill 7, which prohibits any business from requiring employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, although THA was able to negotiate the ability for hospitals to enact reasonable policies to account for unvaccinated employees.

A prohibition involving patient status on all vaccines came in Senate Bill 1024, which also became law during 2023. SB 1024 prohibited denial of services to a Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Plan recipient based solely on that person’s “refusal or failure” to be vaccinated “for a particular infectious or communicable disease.” THA successfully lobbied for an exemption for oncology care and organ transplant services.