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CONCORD, NH – A national pro-vaccine group has opened a chapter in New Hampshire, the eleventh state in which it has done so.
American Families for Vaccines said the chapter will “work to promote science-based legislation and initiatives in the Granite State.”
The group has been around since 2020, growing out of an organization created in Maine to support access to vaccines. It renamed itself and organized as a national non-profit this year. It already has a chapter in Massachusetts, as well as states from West Virginia to Oregon.
The move comes as the federal government continues to pull back from decades of support for public vaccination, an effort echoed by some lawmakers in New Hampshire. Among the proposed bills to be considered in the new state legislative session is one that would end immunization requirements for children, one that would expand “religious exemptions” from vaccination requirements, and one that would prohibit the state or towns from spending money to advertise vaccine clinics.
“Respiratory season is just around the corner, and people need to have access to fact and science-based information regarding vaccines that protect the entire family,” said Tory Shaheen, director of New Hampshire Families for Vaccines. “Last year’s respiratory season saw a record number of pediatric flu deaths, including one child from New Hampshire. No one should become sick or die due to a vaccine-preventable disease.”
Shaheen is the niece of U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology from UNH and a master’s degree in microbiology and immunology from UNC Chapel Hill.
“Her involvement with New Hampshire Families for Vaccines is entirely independent of that family connection,” the group said in a statement.
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