ALBANY WATCH

Meningitis vaccine now required for NY students

Jon Campbell Albany Bureau
A child getting a vaccination.

ALBANY - Add meningitis to the list of vaccines required to attend school in New York.

Starting next school year, students entering grades 7 and 12 will be required to receive a meningicoccal vaccine, which protects against certain diseases including a form of meningitis.

The new requirement among 39 bills signed into law late Monday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and was approved despite a lobbying effort by vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cuomo’s former brother-in-law.

The bill had wide support from the medical community, including the state Medical Society, the March of Dimes and the Association of County Health Officials.

But it drew opposition from Kennedy and those who believe there is a link between vaccines containing thimerosal — a mercury-containing preservative — and developmental disorders in children. (That contention is disputed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Association of Pediatrics, Autism Speaks and the Institute of Medicine.)

Two of the three available meningococcal vaccinations have no thimerosal, while the third has a trace amount when administered in multi-dose form.

The bill led Kennedy to travel to Albany in June, where he spoke out against it at a news conference near the Capitol.

Later that month, the state Legislature approved the measure by a wide margin.

The new requirement for next school year comes after the state Health Department had issued new immunization requirements for this school year.

JCAMPBELL1@gannett.com

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