New Mexico health official hopes special session will help ‘bulletproof’ vaccine policy

Federal uncertainty has upended local vaccine access

​By DANIELLE PROKOP
​Courtesy of Source NM

New Mexico Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Miranda Durham pictured in front of the NMDOH office in Albuquerque on Sept. 29, 2025. Lawmakers plan to take up DOH’s authority to address vaccination policy amidst federal tumult during a special legislative session. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM)

During the special legislation session starting Wednesday and focused on federal health insurance and food assistance programs, New Mexico lawmakers also plan to address state laws on vaccine policy.

Current federal tumult over vaccine availability requires providing state officials the flexibility “to set their own standards,” Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth recently told Source NM.

New Mexico Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Miranda Durham told Source NM she hopes the changes in the law will offer state officials more leeway as federal vaccine policy faces delays and uncertainty.

The hope is to “bulletproof” the state’s vaccination policy infrastructure and send clear public health messages, she noted.

“We are essentially hoping to just broaden the guidance that we can rely on in making vaccine decisions,” Durham said.

Durham pointed to the recent challenges the state faced in offering COVID-19 vaccines. State law requires pharmacies to follow guidelines set by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. But under the current federal administration, those guidelines have not been finalized. Thus, the state “was left in limbo,” she said.

As such, DOH Secretary Gina DeBlassie issued a public health order on Aug. 29 that directed the state pharmacy board to update its protocols to ease access. Then Durham wrote a statewide prescription for all residents. The situation, Durham noted, illustrated that the state needs to “craft its own recommendations.”

Durham pointed to clinical guidancereleased by professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics or others as a means for the department to craft effective policy guidance for pharmacists and other medical professionals.

“[American Academy of Pediatrics] and others have reviewed vaccines independently and just usually come to the same conclusion as ACIP, so we haven’t had conflicting recommendations,” Durham said. “What’s happening with ACIP right now — it’s not meeting in a timely manner and not providing strong evidence-based recommendations.”

Recent uncertainty may be worsened by the federal shutdown expected on Oct. 1 if Congress doesn’t pass a budget to fund the government.

“I would hope the acting CDC director would be considered an essential worker, but there’s really no way to know,” Durham told Source NM.

Durham said having a state policy will also help “screen out the noise” of misinformation about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
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“We think the Department of Health is well positioned to be really clear about what’s best for New Mexico. And again, it doesn’t necessarily have to be different than what’s best for other states, but we really do want to focus on that,” Durham said.
Other states have also begun charting their own vaccine policies. California, Oregon and Washington announced a public health alliance, while New York declared a disaster, citing the Trump Administration’s limits on the use of COVID-19 vaccinations.