Seven of the current Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) members were appointed by the Health and Humans Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in June, following the earlier dismissal of all 17 members of the ACIP. Kennedy appointed an additional five members on Sept. 15. These members met on Sept. 18 and 19. In several ways, this committee and this meeting were different from typical ACIP meetings. Prior to this meeting, representatives of the liaison organizations and CDC subject matter experts were dismissed from ACIP work groups. The standardized Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) process typically presented for evaluating the quality of evidence considered by work groups was not used, nor was ACIP’s standard Evidence to Recommendations deliberation framework, normally used by work groups and presented to support proposed recommendations.
At the Sept 18 and 19 meeting, the ACIP voted on the following items:
- To NOT recommend use of MMRV vaccine (ProQuad, Merck) for children younger than age 4 years. The committee passed a VFC program resolution to align it with this recommendation.
- To recommend hepatitis B testing for all pregnant women (a current recommendation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force [USPSTF]).
- To recommend individual-based decision-making (also known as shared clinical decision-making [SCDM]) for COVID-19 vaccination of all people age 6 months and older following discussion with a healthcare professional. ACIP also voted to recommend that additional topics be added to the COVID-19 vaccine information statements (VIS) and covered in informed consent discussions.
ACIP Chair Martin Kulldorff announced the formation of two new ACIP work groups:
- Vaccines in Pregnancy
- Childhood and Adolescent Vaccine Schedule (to review the schedule in its entirety, rather than individual vaccines)
The federal Vaccines for Children (VFC) program and a variety of aspects of state vaccine policy, insurance coverage, and scope of practice for some licensed professionals are all tied to the decisions of ACIP. The next ACIP meeting is expected to be held on Oct. 22–23, 2025. Information about past and future ACIP meetings may be found on the ACIP website.