CDC vaccine committee issues new guidance for COVID-19 shots
On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory panel voted on new guidance for the use of COVID-19 vaccination, citing an ethos of “individual-based decision making.”
According to an announcement from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the 12 members unanimously agreed that, going forward, those seeking an immunization from the virus should speak to a clinician before making any decision. Further, it was decided that the vaccines will not require a prescription to acquire or administer.
These recommendations apply to everyone the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved to safely get the injection—everyone over six months old. However, ACIP said extra emphasis should be placed on the notion that the “risk-benefit of vaccination is most favorable for individuals who are at an increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease,” which includes those over 65 years old or those who have a compromised immune system.
In other words, healthy children and adults may not need to get the jab, per the recommendation of ACIP. However, the committee stopped short of formally affirming as such.
As it stands, all of the above still ensure COVID-19 vaccines are covered by insurance. Ultimately, the Director of the CDC will need to approve the guidelines before they become the official policy of the agency.
Vaccine policy shift led by FDA
The decision from ACIP comes after FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, MD, and hematologist-oncologist and health researcher Vinay Prasad, MD, jointly published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, calling for a new “evidence-based approach” to seasonal COVID boosters and new vaccinations.
Specifically, the duo called for the CDC to end its broad recommendation for COVID inoculations, instead asking the agency to recommend them only for people over 65 and those with a medical need.
“While all other high-income nations confine vaccine recommendations to older adults—typically those older than 65 years of age—or those at high risk for severe COVID-19, the U.S. has adopted a one-size-fits-all regulatory framework and has granted broad marketing authorization to all Americans over the age of 6 months,” they wrote in May. “The U.S. policy has sometimes been justified by arguing that the American people are not sophisticated enough to understand age- and risk-based recommendations.”
Makary and Prasad, who also works within the FDA as a researcher, said new COVID vaccine approvals should be required to comply with the typical new drug regulations—meaning the FDA would effectively end the emergency powers that fast-tracked approval during the pandemic.
Now, ACIP has effectively issued similar guidance. The agency’s full announcement can be found here.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.