BILL NUMBER: S4709

SPONSOR: STEC
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring the
department of health to publish and update COVID-19 vaccination distrib-
ution data on its website on a weekly basis

 
PURPOSE:

To improve transparency with respect to the New York State COVID-19
vaccination program.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends the Public Health Law to require the. New York State
Department of Health Commissioner to post relevant data on the State's
COVID-19 vaccination program in a downloadable format on a weekly basis.
Such information shall include the total number of vaccines allocated
to, requested by and received by the State from the federal government,
              

as well as the total number of vaccines administered to and declined by
eligible recipients under the State's vaccination program and the Phar-
macy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program.

Requires that the data shall be organized by county, date, facility, as
well as the age, race, ethnicity and distribution phase of the eligible
recipient and shall include all such data retroactive to December 14,
2020.

Section 2: Provides an effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

According to the Centers for Disease Control, New York is ranking below
the national averages in terms of the percentage of people who have
received both the first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccination, as
well as the percentage of doses used. Problems with the rollout have
been readily apparent, as New Yorkers across the State struggled to
determine when they would be eligible to receive the vaccine, and those
who were determined to be eligible were met with tremendous challenges
in securing a reliable appointment. Reports surfaced of vaccines doses
needing to be discarded because eligible individuals could not be iden-
tified for inoculation before their expiration due to the strict rules
and punitive measures the state had implemented.  While the Governor and
Department of Health have provided regular updates to the public on
general information relating to the vaccination distribution program, it
does not have a sufficient breakdown of the State's progress in adminis-
tering vaccines.

Increasing transparency in this massive undertaking would enable public
health experts, academic institutions, independent organizations,
lawmakers and other stakeholders outside the Executive Branch to help
identify gaps in the distribution effort, and more importantly, help
provide solutions to address them.

This legislation would ensure critical data is made available to the
public by requiring the New York State Department of Health to compile
and post information on the total number of vaccines allocated to,
requested by and received by the State from the federal government, as
well as the total number of vaccines administered to and declined by
eligible recipients under the State's vaccination program and the Phar-
macy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program.

Further, this data will aid in ensuring an equitable distribution of the
vaccine by requiring the data be organized by county, date, facility,
age, race, ethnicity and distribution phase of the eligible recipient.

Transparency in data reporting is necessary not only to bolster public
trust in the process, but to streamline and improve vaccine distribution
in New York.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.