A Tale of Two ACIPs -- How 2025 Upended CDC's Influential Vaccine Panel

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Source: MedPage Today

Original: https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/vaccines/119176...

Published: Sat, 27 Dec 2025 11:00:00 -0500

In February 2025, the regular meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was abruptly adjourned shortly after the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of HHS.[1][3] The CDC updated the vaccination schedules for adults and children, introducing individual decision-making for COVID-19 vaccination.[1][2] The ACIP recommended that the COVID-19 vaccine be recommended for persons 6 months and older based on shared decision-making with a physician, with an emphasis on at-risk groups up to 64 years of age.[1][2][4] For varicella (chickenpox), they recommended a stand-alone vaccine instead of a combination vaccine with measles, mumps, and rubella.[1] The ACIP approved changes to hepatitis B vaccination for newborns, proposing to delay the first vaccination for at least one month in children of mothers who test negative, by a vote of 8 to 3.[5][7][8][9][10] These recommendations were approved by the CDC on October 6, 2025, and the schedules will be updated by October 7, 2025.[1][2] Only 23% of adults have followed through from the previous across-the-board recommendation of COVID boosters.