75 Organizations Representing Public Health, Patients, Family Caregivers, and Healthcare Professionals Send Letter to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP)

Today, 75 organizations representing public health, patients, family caregivers, and healthcare professionals sent a letter to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The letter states, “Vaccines represent one of our most effective tools in preventing disease and improving quality of life, throughout the lifespan. The proceedings and recommendations of the CDC’s ACIP have a huge impact on trust and confidence in vaccines, and in Americans’ ability to access those life-saving vaccines.”

The organizations urge ACIP to consider three recommendations:

1. Uphold the Process and Gold Standard of the ACIP:  To align with the Administration’s commitment to “Restoring Gold Standard Science,” we urge the CDC and Committee to abide by the ACIP Charter and Workgroup Guidance, including its Evidence to Recommendations framework and the Grading of Recommendations  Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.
2. Vote to Recommend the Full Schedule of Vaccines and Ensure Access and Patient Choice: The ACIP must act decisively to approve the full schedule of vaccines without limiting choice and creating barriers to access. We urge the committee to allow access to the people who need and want these vaccines.
3. Vote to Recommend the COVID-19 Vaccines for All Americans 6 Months and Older: We urge the committee to clear up the confusion and recommend the COVID-19 vaccines for all Americans ages 6 months and up—restoring choice for those that want to protect themselves from illness, transmission, and long-term complications. Such a recommendation promotes personal choice and puts clinical decision-making back in the hands of healthcare professionals, patients, and their family caregivers. It would also better facilitate reasonable coverage and reimbursement than the current risk-based scheme.  

Read the full letter.

The letter was signed by the following organizations:

• AAPACN
• Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP)
• Academy of Medicine of Cleveland & Northern Ohio (AMCNO)
• AiArthritis
• Aimed Alliance
• Allergy & Asthma Network
• Alliance for Aging Research
• Alliance for Women’s Health and Prevention
• Alzheimer’s Los Angeles
• American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
• American Association of Colleges of Nursing
• American Association of Nurse Practitioners
• American Behcet’s Disease Association (ABDA)
• American College of Nurse-Midwives
• American Geriatrics Society
• American Kidney Fund
• American Pharmacists Association
• American Public Health Association
• American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
• American Society on Aging
• Association of Black Cardiologists
• Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology
• Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
• Autism Society of America
• Autoimmune Association
• California Chronic Care Coalition
• Cancer Nation (formerly National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship)
• Caregiver Action Network
• CaringKind, The Heart of Alzheimer’s Caregiving
• Chronic Care Policy Alliance
• Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation
• Dia de la Mujer Latina Inc
• Diverse Elders Coalition
• Emergency Nurses Association
• Generations United
• Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses
• Association (GAPNA)
• Gerontological Society of America
• Global Coalition on Aging
• Global Healthy Living Foundation
• HealthHIV
• HealthyWomen
• Hydrocephalus Association
• Illinois Public Health Association
• Immune Deficiency Foundation
• Immunize Colorado
• Infectious Diseases Society of America
• LeadingAge
• Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, Inc.
• National Alliance for Caregiving
• National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs (NANASP)
• National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
• National Association of School Nurses
• National Black Nurses Association, Inc
• National Consumers League
• National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
• National Hispanic Council on Aging
• National Hispanic Health Foundation
• Nevada Chronic Care Collaborative
• Nurses Who Vaccinate
• Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease
• Partnership to Fight Infectious Disease
• Pediatric Nurse Practitioner House Calls
• Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association
• Premier Integrated Medical Associates
• Prevent Blindness
• RetireSafe
• Sepsis Alliance
• Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
• Support Services of Virginia, Inc.
• The diaTribe Foundation
• The National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health
• The Task Force for Global Health
• Vaccinate Your Family
• Voices for Vaccines
• Voices of Alzheimer’s

If you are a member of the media and want to interview Alliance for Aging Research President & CEO Sue Peschin, MHS, about this topic, email Katie Riley, Vice President of Communications, [email protected].