Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), founded in 1964, provides advice and guidance on effective control of vaccine-preventable diseases in the U.S. civilian population. The ACIP develops written recommendations for routine administration of vaccines to the pediatric and adult populations, along with vaccination schedules regarding appropriate periodicity, dosage, and contraindications. ACIP statements are official federal recommendations for the use of vaccines and immune globulins in the U.S., and are published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The overall goals of the ACIP are to provide advice to government agencies for reducing the incidence of vaccine preventable diseases and to increase the safe usage of vaccines and related biological products. In the U.S., immunizations have resulted in the eradication of smallpox, polio, measles, and rubella, and disease rates from vaccine-preventable diseases have been reduced by 99%.

Both private insurers in the United States and the federal government use ACIP recommendations to determine which vaccines they will pay for.

Most states in the U.S. have adopted ACIP vaccine recommendations and immunization before enrollment in public school, while allowing religious or philosophical exemptions to vaccination.

Regularly scheduled ACIP meetings are held three times a year. Notices of each meeting, along with agenda items, are published in the Federal Register in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). A vote on vaccine recommendations may be taken when a quorum of at least eight eligible ACIP members are present. Eligible voters are those members who do not have a conflict of interest. If there are not eight eligible voting members present, the ACIP executive secretary can temporarily designate ex officio members as voting members, as provided in the committee charter. Meetings are advertised and open to the public, and are now available online via webcast. The minutes of each meeting are available on the CDC website within 90 days of the conference.

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