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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 285
AN ACT ALLOWING MEDICAL ASSISTANTS TO ADMINISTER
VACCINES.
SUMMARY
This bill allows medical assistants to administer vaccines, under
certain conditions, in any setting other than a hospital setting. They
may do so only if they (1) meet certain certification, education, and
training requirements and (2) are acting under the supervision, control,
and responsibility of a licensed physician or advanced practice
registered nurse (APRN). The bill specifies that it does not authorize
employers to require physicians or APRNs, without their consent, to
oversee medical assistants administering vaccines.
The bill makes a corresponding change by adding to the list of
organizations from whom the Department of Public Health (DPH)
must obtain a list of state residents certified as medical assistants.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2021
REQUIRED CERTIFICATION, EDUCATION, AND TRAINING
Under the bill, to be eligible to administer vaccines a medical
assistant generally must be certified by the American Association of
Medical Assistants, the National Healthcareer Association, the
National Center for Competency Testing, or the American Medical
Technologists.
The medical assistant also generally must have graduated from a
postsecondary medical assisting program that is:
1. accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health
Education Programs, the Accrediting Bureau of Health
Education Schools, or another accrediting organization
recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or 2021SB-00285-R000033-BA.DOCX
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2. offered by a higher education institution accredited by an
accrediting organization recognized by the U.S. Department of
Education.
The bill’s authorization also applies to medical assistants who do
not meet the above certification and education requirements but who
have completed relevant medical assistant training provided by any
branch of the U.S. armed forces.
The bill requires any medical assistant, before administering
vaccines, to complete at least 24 hours of classroom training and eight
hours of clinical training on vaccine administration.
LIST OF CERTIFIED MEDICAL ASSISTANTS
Under current law, the DPH commissioner must annually obtain
from the American Association of Medical Assistants and the National
Healthcareer Association a list of all state residents on each
organization’s registry of certified medical assistants. The bill extends
this requirement to also include comparable lists from the National
Center for Competency Testing and the American Medical
Technologists. By law and unchanged by the bill, DPH must make
these lists available for public inspection.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Public Health Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 23 Nay 10 (02/22/2021)