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A controversial federal vaccine advisory committee is scheduled to meet again next week at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. But it has failed to make public – as required – the details of its planned agenda, raising questions about whether the meeting can legally occur.
The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices – which in its last meeting made significant changes to the childhood vaccine schedule – is scheduled to hold its next meeting Feb. 25-27, according to a list of future meetings on the committee’s webpage. But as of Wednesday evening, the committee had not posted an agenda or other key details.
“Legally, I believe that HHS is in violation of federal law,” said Lawrence Gostin, Founding O’Neill Chair in Global Health Law at Georgetown University. “But Secretary Kennedy has long been flouting federal law, especially when it comes to good governance, transparency and administrative practice.”
Officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC did not immediately respond to questions about why no meeting notice and agenda information had been posted in the Federal Register or on the ACIP’s website.
The committee – which last summer had all of its scientific advisers replaced by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – has become a front line in the political, cultural, and scientific war over vaccines. During its last meeting, in December, Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana physician, called the committee “totally discredited” for seeking a briefing from a lawyer and vaccine critic with ties to Kennedy.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups are suing HHS to block changes to the federal child and adolescent vaccine schedule that were recommended by the committee.
The questions surrounding whether the ACIP meeting will happen next week are just the latest controversy for the group.
Federal advisory committees historically have been required to let the public know about their meeting agendas and other basic information at least 15 calendar days in advance of the meeting. In December, the Trump administration reduced the advance notice to at least seven calendar days before a meeting. Wednesday was seven days before the ACIP meeting date listed on the CDC website.
If the meeting is starting as planned on Feb. 25, the federal rules require that the public be told by now – through a posting in the Federal Register – details such as the time and location of the meeting, how to attend electronically, and whether registration is required for attendance. The rules also called for the committee to post a summary of the agenda, topics to be discussed, and instructions for how to access meeting materials, as well as how the public can comment in writing or in person.
The only way a committee can give less than seven days of notice, the rules say, is “if the President determines this is necessary for reasons of national security, or if the head of an agency determines this is necessary due to exceptional circumstances,” with the reasons being included in the Federal Register meeting notice.
“These meetings are one of the few opportunities for the public to make their voices heard,” said Michaela Jackson, program director for prevention policy at the Hepatitis B Foundation. “When notice comes too late, people lose the chance to share their experiences and help shape policies that directly affect their health, their families, and their communities.”
Jackson said it takes significant research for stakeholders to prepare for ACIP meetings. “Contributors want to present the strongest evidence available to support our positions, but it is extremely difficult to craft meaningful or relevant comments when no agenda or list of topics is provided in advance.”
Gostin said the lack of required public notice for the ACIP meeting run afoul of both the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. He said the public should care because it’s important to have thoughtful public input into government decisions – such as vaccine policy – that will impact people’s lives.
“Advance notice and comment are the hallmarks of transparency, good government, and democracy,” Gostin said. “Without advanced notice and an opportunity to comment, major stakeholders cannot weigh in and feel as though they are left in the dark, which they are.”
Alison Young is Healthbeat’s senior national reporter. You can reach her at ayoung@healthbeat.org or through the messaging app Signal at alisonyoungreports.48.
