The upcoming meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has been postponed.
The committee, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on US vaccine policy, had been scheduled to meet February 26 to 28. But the meeting has been postponed "to accommodate public comment in advance of the meeting," according to a statement from a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesman.
"The ACIP workgroups met as scheduled this month and will present at the upcoming ACIP meeting," HHS communications director Andrew Nixon said in an email. But Nixon did not respond to a question about when the meeting will be rescheduled.
The postponement was first reported by Stat.
According to a draft agenda of the meeting, ACIP advisers were scheduled to discuss and vote on the use of newly approved meningococcal and chikungunya vaccines, as well as new recommendations on flu and RSV vaccines.
The group had also planned to review data on human papillomavirus, mpox, and COVID-19 vaccines. The CDC bases its vaccine recommendations and adult and child immunization schedules on ACIP recommendations.
The postponing of the ACIP meeting comes amid concerns that newly confirmed HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine critic, could make changes to the group, or get rid of it altogether. Kennedy has suggested in the past that ACIP members have conflicts of interest. Politico reports that Kennedy is planning to remove some members of outside committees that advise the federal government on health issues, and that ACIP is among the committees likely to be targeted.
Prior to Kennedy's confirmation, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a physician and key member of the committee that advanced Kennedy's nomination to the full Senate, said Kennedy had made several assurances on vaccines to win Cassidy's vote. Among them was a promise to uphold ACIP recommendations.