05/22/2026
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: COMMUNITY IMMUNITY ACT
On May 18, 2026, the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing recommended that S.2623, “An Act Promoting Community Immunity,” ought to pass with an amendment. The revised bill is now known as S.3070 and has advanced to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means for further review.
We are working on updating the education pieces to breakdown this extensive bill. Stay tuned.
Major Provision REMOVED from the Original Bill
The revised bill deletes the formal DPH-managed exemption approval system, which required:
• Use of a DPH-provided exemption forms that required provider acknowledgement,
• DPH review and approval of exemption requests, and
• DPH-issued exemption acknowledgment letters.
Major Provisions that STILL REMAIN in S.3070
Despite these removals, S.3070 still:
• Provides that exemptions are valid for one year only,
• Mandates immunization and exemption reporting by all “covered programs” (generally including schools, colleges, daycares, camps),
• Designates “covered programs” as “elevated risk programs,” if they fail to report or if immunization levels fall below state-defined herd immunity thresholds,
• Gives DPH commissioner discretion to exclude from “elevated risk programs” those students who are not immunized in accordance with the schedule — including students with medical or religious exemptions
• Expands exclusion policy that applies in the event of an outbreak by granting the DPH commissioner broad discretion to exclude unvaccinated children from school if there is a “potential epidemic” in the “geographic area” that includes the school/program,
• Allows private “covered programs” to impose vaccine requirements stricter than those required by the state— this means private programs are given permission to mandate additional vaccines not otherwise required by the state and, arguably, may be permitted to refuse to accept religious or medical exemptions,
• “Covered programs” designated “elevated risk” will be listed on the DPH website, will be required to notify families of the designation, and may be required to host an information session on immunization; DPH will be required to provide information statements that the program must distribute to families at the school,
• Expands Massachusetts minor consent law by allowing minors to consent to preventative care, including vaccination, without parental knowledge or consent, and without clear intellectual capacity safeguards.
• Mandates that DPH collect immunization data, including extensive demographic data, and report daily immunizations during public health emergencies, and
• Grants DPH broad implementation authority related to these provisions
Health Action MA is actively updating our educational materials to reflect the revised language and new bill number. Updated resources will be available on our website next week.
In the meantime, you can still take action today through our Action Center and send a prefilled email to legislators.
COMMENT “ACTION” to oppose this bill or visit HealthActionMA.org.
