Creates a permanent, statutory Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) with defined duties, membership rules, meeting and recordkeeping requirements, and authorizes funding through fiscal year 2029. It requires ACIP advice to be based on the best available, peer‑reviewed scientific evidence and sets procedures for how the CDC Director and HHS Secretary must handle, publish, or explain adoption or non‑adoption of ACIP recommendations. Also raises the evidentiary bar for changing the Vaccine Injury Table: removal or other modification of a vaccine or listed injuries must be supported by a preponderance of the best available scientific evidence regarding the vaccine’s safety or efficacy, while preserving the Secretary’s authority to add new vaccines to the Table.
Create a new statutory section titled "222A. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices" by inserting it after section 222 of Title II of the Public Health Service Act (the Advisory Committee shall carry out the duties specified in this section).
Apply the provisions of chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code (except section 1013), to the Advisory Committee.
Require ACIP to provide advice, guidance, and recommendations to the Director regarding use of vaccines and related agents licensed under section 351 for control of vaccine‑preventable diseases in the civilian U.S. population, based on a preponderance of the best available, peer‑reviewed scientific evidence.
Require the Director to review ACIP recommendations and adopt them unless the Director determines a recommendation is not supported by a preponderance of the best available, peer‑reviewed scientific evidence and publishes the results of that review.
If the Director adopts an ACIP recommendation, treat that recommendation as an official recommendation of the Secretary (acting through the Director); the Director must publish the recommendation on the HHS public website and inform the Secretary and Assistant Secretary for Health in writing.
Who is directly affected and how:
ACIP members and subcommittees: codification formalizes the committee’s legal status, membership rules, meeting procedures, recordkeeping obligations, and funding — increasing institutional stability and requiring adherence to set processes.
CDC leadership and HHS Secretary: must follow specified procedures for responding to ACIP recommendations, including publication and explanation obligations when recommendations are not adopted; this adds procedural steps and documentation requirements.
Health care providers and public‑health authorities: clearer, statutory processes for recommendation development and publication may improve predictability of official vaccine guidance used in clinical practice and program planning.
Vaccine manufacturers and developers: changes to the Vaccine Injury Table (removals/modifications) now require a preponderance of best available scientific evidence, which may raise the evidentiary bar for regulatory or programmatic adjustments tied to safety/efficacy concerns.
Petitioners and claimants under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP): modifying the Table (removing or changing entries) will be subject to a defined evidentiary standard, which can affect the availability of remedies tied to listed injuries and the process for amending covered conditions.
General public and patients (including caregivers and parents): statutory emphasis on peer‑reviewed evidence and transparency may increase public confidence in recommendation processes; conversely, the higher evidentiary requirement for removing Table items could delay updates responding to new safety or efficacy information.
Operational effects and tradeoffs:
Increased transparency and formal procedures likely improve public documentation of vaccine policy decisions but may require CDC/HHS to allocate staff time and resources to expanded recordkeeping, public communications, and formal explanations.
The evidentiary standard for Vaccine Injury Table changes raises legal defensibility for removals/modifications but could slow regulatory responsiveness to emerging data if the available evidence is limited or evolving.
Authorized funding for ACIP for FY2026–2029 supports implementation but the authorization does not itself appropriate funds; appropriations still needed to obligate spending.
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Updated 1 week ago
Last progress December 3, 2025 (2 months ago)
Last progress June 4, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on June 4, 2025 by Frank Pallone
