Reps. Kuster (D-NH) and Bucshon (R-IN) Legislation A Critical First Step To Improving Vaccine Data

Washington, D.C. (June 15, 2021): Today the Health Innovation Alliance (HIA) issued the following statement on the legislative hearing at the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health--“Booster Shot: Enhancing Public Health through Vaccine Legislation”:

"The Health Innovation Alliance (HIA) commends Chairwoman Eshoo (D-CA) for calling this important hearing to begin focusing on legislation to improve and modernize our public health information infrastructure to be better prepared for the next pandemic or public health crisis.

Specifically, HIA supports efforts to modernize immunization information systems that meet a number of criteria that includes: transmitting bi-directional data, in near-real time, is seamless for provider enrollment and use, and accounts for important demographic data on who has received vaccinations.

It is equally important this vaccine history information is easily accessible for each person to know their own or their children's vaccine history. Unfortunately, that is not the case today in many states.

H.R. 550, the "Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act", introduced by Reps. Kuster (D-NH) and Bucshon (R-IN) takes a critical first step to help modernize and fund these systems. We appreciate their leadership and hard work on this effort, and look forward to continuing to work on this important legislation."