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VFC: The ACIP-VFC Vaccine Resolutions

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VFC Resolutions

About the ACIP

The ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) is a Federal advisory committee whose role is to provide advice and guidance to the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary for Health, and the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), regarding the most appropriate application of antigens and related agents (e.g., vaccines, antisera, immune globulins) for effective disease control in the civilian population.

The Committee consists of 15 members, including the Chair, and 8 non-voting ex officio members: the Deputy Director, Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration; the Deputy Director for Scientific Activities, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Department of Defense; Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans Affairs; the Director, National Center for Drugs and Biologics, Food and Drug Administration; the Medical Advisor, Medicaid Bureau, Health Care Financing Administration; the Director, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Program, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health; and the Director, National Vaccine Program Office, or their designees. Non-voting liaison representatives to the Committee include persons from the American Academy of Family Physicians; the American Academy of Pediatrics; the American Association of Health Plans; the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; the American College of Physicians; the American Hospital Association; the American Medical Association; the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine; the Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Infectious Diseases Society of America; the National Medical Association; and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1396s) conferred an operational role on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to establish a list of vaccines for administration to children eligible to receive vaccines through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program, along with schedules regarding the appropriate periodicity, dosage, and contraindications applicable to pediatric vaccines. The Secretary will use, for the purpose of the purchase, delivery, and administration of pediatric vaccines in the VFC program, the list established and periodically reviewed and, as appropriate, revised by the Committee.

The ACIP meets three times each year. These meetings are announced in notices published in the Federal Register. At these meetings they may vote on the inclusion of new vaccines into the VFC program or the modification of existing resolutions. These decisions are codified as VFC resolutions and are considered separate from any other recommendations made by the ACIP. In most cases, a VFC resolution takes effect after a CDC contract for the purchase of that vaccine in the necessary amounts is established.

VFC resolutions passed by the ACIP form the basis for VFC program policies on vaccine availability and usage. The National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) communicate VFC resolutions to State Immunization and Medicaid programs for dissemination to providers at the local level. VFC vaccine must be administered according to the guidelines outlined by the ACIP in the VFC resolutions. (VFC vaccine may also be administered in accordance with State school attendance laws.)

Correspondence to the ACIP should be directed to:

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road, N.E., Mailstop E-05
Atlanta, GA 30333
USA
Phone: 404-639-8836
Fax: 404-639-8905
Email: acip@cdc.gov

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