Bill > HB218

This bill amends Georgia law to lower the age at which hospitals must offer influenza vaccinations to inpatients from 50 to 18 years old. Currently, hospitals are required to offer flu vaccinations to patients 50 and older before discharge, but this legislation will expand that requirement to include patients as young as 18. The vaccination offer must be made in line with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state department regulations, unless the vaccination is medically contraindicated or the vaccine is unavailable. The bill maintains the existing requirement for hospitals to offer pneumococcal disease vaccinations to patients 65 and older. Hospitals can administer these vaccinations through approved standing orders, which are pre-approved medical protocols that allow healthcare providers to give vaccines without individual physician orders for each patient. The purpose of this bill appears to be increasing vaccination rates and protecting a broader range of hospitalized patients from influenza by starting the mandatory vaccination offer at a younger age.

Health and Social Services

https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69764