The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) held their tri-annual meeting on June 23-25 to review scientific data and vote on vaccine recommendations. The meeting, held at the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia, spent the first day on the Coronavirus Vaccines, including presentations regarding; an update on COVID-19 vaccine safety including myocarditis after mRNA vaccines, benefits and risks of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in adolescents, and an overview of data to inform recommendations for additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines. The meeting included discussion and public comment.
Following the ACIP meeting, a statement has been co-signed by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and some of the nation’s public health leaders, physicians and nurses including; the CDC, the American College of Physicians (ACP), American Public Health Association (APHA), the American Heart Association, the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, among many others. The released statement is in support of the COVID-19 vaccinations, stating the benefits of the vaccine.
The statement urges: “We strongly encourage everyone age 12 and older who are eligible to receive the vaccine under Emergency Use Authorization to get vaccinated, as the benefits of vaccination far outweigh any harm. Especially with the troubling Delta variant increasingly circulating, and more readily impacting younger people, the risks of being unvaccinated are far greater than any rare side effects from the vaccines…We recommend getting vaccinated right away if you haven’t yet. It is the best way to protect yourself, your loved ones, your community, and to return to a more normal lifestyle safely and quickly.”
To access the full ACIP statement, click here.
