A new charter calls on the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to consider "non-vaccine interventions" and changes the focus, membership structure, and rules that govern the influential panel.
Societies led by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) warned the updates could threaten access to immunizations and erode trust in U.S. vaccine policy.
"The new charter inappropriately emphasizes potential gaps or limitations in vaccine data, which could be used to delay, rescind, or refuse to make evidence-based vaccine recommendations," the groups said in a statement.
They also said the "governance of the committee would be the responsibility of the CDC director instead of members with deep expertise on immunization, which would intensify politicization of the ACIP."
While the panel's 2024 charter had the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases supporting ACIP, the new charter puts ACIP's support in the hands of the CDC Office of the Chief of Staff and other agency components, as directed by the CDC director.
