In a surprising move, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it is reconstituting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), removing all 17 current members and replacing them ahead of the group's June 25-27, 2025, meeting. The committee was expected to address COVID-19 vaccine guidance and other immunization issues. The decision follows a recent policy shift that deemphasized vaccine recommendations for children, pregnant women and other groups.
ACIP, formed in 1964 under the Public Health Service Act, is a federal advisory body governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). It comprises up to 19 voting members, appointed as Special Government Employees, along with nonvoting representatives from agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH). Members are chosen for expertise in immunization, public health and vaccine science, with one slot reserved for a consumer representative.
ACIP members meet three times per year – more often during emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic – to review data on vaccines and recommend how they should be used. Their recommendations must be approved by the CDC director or HHS secretary to go into practice.
ACIP had 17 active members, several of whom had terms expiring on June 30, 2025. Their removal gives HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the opportunity to significantly reshape federal vaccine policy, including recommendations for the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, which offers publicly funded vaccines at no cost to eligible children. The VFC program ensures that children who might otherwise go unvaccinated – such as those who are uninsured, underinsured, Medicaid-eligible or Native American/Alaska Native – have access to recommended immunizations without financial barriers.
ACIP's recommendations also influence vaccine access for adults. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), private health plans are required to cover ACIP-recommended vaccines without cost-sharing when administered by an in-network provider.
Despite the overhaul, the June meeting will proceed. Replacement members are being announced over X – with the first eight new members announced on June 11.
It also remains unclear whether Congress will engage further through a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) investigation. Notably, Secretary Kennedy has statutory discretion to set the terms and qualifications for committee membership and may remove a member. However, such action could potentially face a challenge under the Administrative Procedure Act if deemed arbitrary and capricious – particularly given that a newly reconstituted ACIP could revise existing recommendations. These recommendations influence coverage requirements as earlier noted under private insurance, Medicaid and Medicare Part D, though Medicare's vaccine coverage is more narrowly defined in statute.
