Massive crowd expected at CT Capitol Wednesday on vaccine issue. Opponents claim ‘freedom’ at stake.

Hartford Courant – Wednesday, March 11, 2026
By Kaitlin McCallum

More than a thousand written testimonies have been submitted in opposition to each of a pair of bills as advocates gear up to fight their passage Wednesday at the Capitol.

The bills, one brought by Gov. Ned Lamont, and a second by the Public Health Committee, which will hold a public hearing on the bills Wednesday, clarify and strengthen Connecticut’s control over recommended vaccines and their availability in the state.

The bills are part of Connecticut’s move to decouple itself from federal policy as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dramatically pares back federal vaccine recommendations. Weakening vaccine confidence under his leadership has seen falling compliance rates and outbreaks of previously controlled or eradicated childhood diseases, including measles.

While Connecticut’s general statutes place authority for the vaccine schedule with the commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, the law specifies that guidance is to be based on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, The American Academy of Pediatrics, and The American Academy of Family Physicians.

The vaccine schedule outlines the immunizations recommended for all children and required for those in community settings like schools, day cares, colleges and group homes.

In January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a reduction of the number of recommended childhood vaccines. Connecticut did not follow suit but, as did most major medical organizations, decried the change.

The two proposed vaccine bills, 450 and 5044, seek to codify the status quo, Sen. Saud Anwar, co-chair of the Public Health Committee and a medical doctor, said.

“This is the status quo of 2021 but because of the federal changes and the confusion around that and potential loopholes in insurance, we want to clarify the state will be following the historical guidelines but also the guidelines of medical institutions,” Anwar said.

The bills simply seek to care for Connecticut residents and ensure that the state is able to procure adequate vaccines and provide them to residents and that insurance companies will cover their cost, Anwar said.

“This is a public health measure and the federal and state laws are such that states have the right and responsibility to protect public health. The public health issues may be different in different parts of the country at different times so it’s important to have a local perspective,” he said.

But while Anwar said the bills include no new mandates, thousands of Connecticut residents are panicking about the potential impact.

Kate Prokop, founder of CT Residents Against Medical Mandates, has been encouraging people through social media to testify against the bills, both in writing and in person and organized a petition against them that she said received more than 15,000 signatures.

Advocates have warned that Raised Bill 450, which includes and expands on the governor’s bill, lays the groundwork for adult vaccine mandates that could potentially bar people from employment, disables a means for residents to fight mandates by means of a religious argument and creates a tracking program on each child’s vaccine status and a means to push parents if children are not compliant.

Anwar acknowledge “the rumors” and assured, “This bill is not creating new mandates. It is looking at what may need to happen in some situations,” such as public health emergencies, like COVID, when state authority was needed to procure vaccines and ensure insurance coverage.

“The Commissioner of Public Health shall [determine] establish the standard of care for immunization for [the children] residents of this state. The standard of care for immunization shall be based on a consideration of the recommended schedules for active immunization for [normal] adults, infants and children, including, but not limited to, such recommended schedules published by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Academy of Family Physicians, and include schedules recommended by the commissioner for active immunization and contraindications to administration of vaccines in accordance with such schedules,” Raised Bill 450 begins. (Brackets used here indicate previous language being replaced; italics show text added.)

The bill includes adults so that the state would be able to create a standard of care and provide for them as well, Anwar said. That includes pregnant women, alluded to as the bill names the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

While the bill creates no mandates, it allows the DPH commissioner, who is appointed by the governor, the ability to mandate vaccination of a group of people in case of a public health emergency.

The tracking system advocates fear is outlined in Section 1a C, D and E: (The commissioner shall) “assist hospitals, local health providers and local health departments to develop and implement record-keeping and outreach programs to identify and immunize those children who have fallen behind the recommended immunization schedule or who lack access to regular preventative health care and have the authority to gather such data as may be needed to evaluate such efforts; [(5)] (E) assist in the development of a program to assess the vaccination status of children who are clients of state and federal programs serving the health and welfare of children and make provision for vaccination of those who are behind the recommended immunization schedule …”

Anwar said the tracking system is used for public health experts to understand the percentage of children who are vaccinated.

“It is to analyze immunization rates; it is not to go after individuals,” he said. “This is not new.”

On the religious issue, Anwar said the bill upholds the 2021 legal framework that repealed the state’s religious exemption. It “states that enforcement of existing vaccination standards shall not be construed as a violation of religious freedom.”

“As of right now it has not been used for that purpose but it was felt that it could be a weakness that was needed to fix,” he said. “It applies only to public and private schools, child care centers and group homes. If somebody is homeschooling their children, they will not be impacted by this.”

Connecticut Republicans have been sounding the alarm, calling for residents to come to the Capitol Wednesday to oppose the bills.

“This legislation blocks legal challenges to vaccine mandates, undermining individual rights. And by limiting oral testimony, Democrats further erode trust in government. I expect many people to turn out on Wednesday,” Sen. Heather Somers, the ranking senator on the Public Health Committee, said.

Sen. Jeff Gordon, a doctor and member of the committee, said, “Democrats yell in protest that they protect women’s rights to choose what happens with their bodies, yet have no problems taking away people’s rights about their bodies when it is about vaccines.”

Sen. Ryan Fazio, a Republican running for governor, joined Prokop on a livestream video Sunday night in giving instructions on how to offer testimony on the bills. Several dozen people also joined.

“I am concerned that this proposal takes away Religious Freedom Restoration Act protections from our residents, concentrates power of vaccine schedule requirements in one individual commissioner, and will increase tracking of families and children,” he said. “At best, this is a solution in search of a problem and, at worst, a major violation of medical and religious freedoms in our state and I will be testifying and rallying with many of our constituents against it.”

Most of the submitted testimonies in opposition are anonymous; many who do not vaccinate fear government retribution. Several say residents will leave the state if the bills pass. Many also echo the reproductive freedom slogan, “my body, my choice.”

“No state has the right to demand that any citizen put *any* substance in his or her body without consent. Issues such as this were settled after WWII,” wrote Mary Alford.

A testimony from an EMT says medical decisions should be made in partnership with one’s medical provider: “I have personally received vaccinations causing severe reactions. There should always be a personal choice when it comes to your body. Please oppose these bills.”

Another anonymous testimony says, “These bills are extreme government overreach and makes CT residents feel as though our voices do not matter. Our children are the most important thing to us and we should not be forced to inject them, it should be a parents choice.”

Connecticut medical experts also weighed in on the bills, though in smaller number.

Dr. Laura Haynes, a professor of immunology at the UConn School of Medicine, a member of the Gerontological Society of America Vaccine Advisory Board, and the American Association of Immunologists, said that the bill, in precluding legal challenge based on religion helps ensure herd immunity to protect vulnerable people.

“At this time in history, it is so important that we follow what science has taught us and not what wellness influencers or anti-science conspiracy theorists are selling. As a scientist, I know that vaccines work-there is absolutely no question about this. But, in order for vaccines to have their maximum effectiveness, they require high rates of vaccination in a community. Unfortunately, not everyone can get vaccinated; young infants and people with severely compromised immune systems like HIV or cancer patients often cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons. Others, such as older adults and organ or bone marrow transplant patients, do not have the ability to generate robust protective immunity to a vaccine,” Haynes wrote.

“Having high rates of vaccinated people in the community protects not only those who have been vaccinated, but those who cannot be protected by vaccination. This is called Herd Immunity, which reduces the possibility of a vaccine-preventable infection from circulating in the community,” Haynes wrote.

The vaccine issue has bubbled up in Connecticut for years. This is outside the State Capitol on the first day of the 2022 legislative session. Photograph by Mark Mirko | mmirko@courant.com

“Importantly, these proposed bills seek to preclude challenges to some mandatory immunization requirements (for daycare, schools, colleges), which are being made on the basis that they violate CT’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Opponents of this legislation want to reinstate religious exemptions, so it is important to note that high vaccination rates are needed to protect those who cannot be vaccinated. It is so important to remember that religious freedom does not include the right to expose others to harm,” she wrote.

Miriam Cohen, MD, FAAP president elect, CT-AAP associate professor, Yale School of Medicine medical director, and a pediatrician at YNHCH Pediatric Primary Care Center at Bridgeport Hospital, said she had seen the devastation from diseases no longer seen today.

“I started my career in medicine prior to the development and distribution of many of the pediatric vaccines we administer today … I have seen the illnesses that these infections cause. I have seen babies and children die from these diseases … Most importantly, I have seen these deaths and disabilities stop since vaccinations against these illnesses have become routine,” Cohen said.

“We need to continue to protect our children from these preventable diseases. We need to ensure that the children of CT have access to and continue to receive these vaccines, despite the changes that the CDC and ACIP are making under the current guidance of the HHS Secretary. Please safeguard our children and support vaccines as outlined by the American Academy of Pediatrics.”

The hearing will be available on YouTube Live and will be held in person at the Legislative Office Building, Room 1D. It will begin at 10:30 a.m. with testimony from experts, then the public. The committee will end the hearing at midnight.

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