ALBANY — Students entering sixth- and 11th-grades must be vaccinated against meningococcal disease under a bill signed late Monday by Gov. Cuomo.
The measure, which was approved by the Assembly and Senate in June, was based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and had the backing of a wide array of medical and community groups.
“This new law sends a clear message — we are not willing to lose one more person to a vaccine preventable illness,” said Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther (D-Sullivan County), who sponsored the bill. “Making the vaccination mandatory is not only good policy, it’s good medicine.”
Cuomo signed the measure despite strong opposition from his former brother-in-law, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and others who believe there is a link between vaccines and autism — a belief that is disputed by the CDC and the American Association of Pediatrics.
The meningococcal vaccine legislation was among more than 60 bills that Cuomo either signed or vetoed late Monday night.
Among the bills vetoed were a handful of measures intended to expand pension benefits for public workers, including one granting employees up to three years credit for time served in the military regardless of whether the country was at war. The governor said the measures would be too costly to state and local governments.
