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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 and the Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services, and the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), regarding the most appropriate selection of vaccines and related agents for control of vaccine-preventable diseases in the civilian population of the United States.

The Committee consists of 15 members, including the Chair; eight non-voting ex officio members, representing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Indian Health Services (HIS), National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and 26 non-voting liaison representatives, including the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American College Health Association (ACHA), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), American College of Physicians (ACP), American Geriatrics Society (AGS), America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), American Medical Association (AMA), American Osteopathic Association (AOA), American Pharmacists Association (APhA), Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), Department of Health of the United Kingdom, Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP), National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), National Immunization Council and Child Health Program, Mexico (NIACCHO), National Medical Association (NMA), National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC), Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), Society for Adolescent Medicine (SAM), and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).

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 dose, dosing interval 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. During meetings ACIP members may vote on inclusion of new vaccines into the VFC program or 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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