STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3742
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: H.B. No. 2553
H.D. 2
S.D. 2
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2024
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 2553, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PHARMACISTS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to:
(1) Authorize pharmacists to administer vaccines to persons three years of age or older;
(2) Authorize pharmacy interns and pharmacy technicians under the direct supervision of a pharmacist to administer vaccinations to persons between the ages of three and seventeen, if certain requirements are met; and
(3) Authorize pharmacists to order vaccines for administration to persons between the ages of three and seventeen.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health; University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo; Disability and Communication Access Board; Board of Pharmacy; CVS Health; Retail Merchants of Hawaii; Times Pharmacy; Molokaʻi Drugs, Inc.; American Pharmacists Association; Hawaii Pharmacists Association; National Community Pharmacists Association; Walgreen Co.; and sixteen individuals.
Your Committee finds that during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, certain temporary amendments were made to the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act to authorize pharmacists and certain pharmacy personnel to act beyond the limited scope of existing state law to order and administer a number of vaccines to children between the ages of three to seventeen, including routinely recommended childhood vaccinations. This temporary authority greatly helped minimize interruptions to patient access to necessary, routine, and recommended vaccination services. Your Committee finds that it is in the public interest for the State to codify in state law the temporary federal amendments before they end on December 31, 2024, and therefore, this measure permanently expands the role of licensed pharmacists and certain pharmacy personnel to administer vaccines to their communities and makes it easier for families to protect their children against influenza and other highly contagious diseases.
Your
Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Clarifying
that pharmacists are authorized to administer vaccines to persons three years
of age or older, not only persons between the ages of three and seventeen;
(2) Clarifying
that pharmacy interns and pharmacy technicians under the direct supervision of
a pharmacist are authorized to administer vaccinations to persons three years
of age or older, not only persons between the ages of three and seventeen;
(3) Clarifying
that pharmacists are authorized to order vaccines for administration to persons
three years of age or older, not only persons between the ages of three and
seventeen;
(4) Requiring
only pharmacy technicians, not pharmacy interns, to have a Certified Pharmacy
Technician certification from either the Pharmacy Technician Certification
Board or National Healthcareer Association to be authorized to administer a
vaccine to a person three years of age or older;
(5) Amending
section 1 to reflect its amended purpose; and
(6) Making
technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and
consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2553, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2553, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,
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________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair |
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