ACIP Expands Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Age Recommendation

Hello,

As part of our ongoing commitment to share important decisions and recommendations with you, below is a summary of today’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting and subsequent vote. 

ACIP met today, May 12, to discuss and vote on updated age recommendations for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. The ACIP members received updates on clinical studies of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents from 12 through 15 years of age. The members used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach and then used the Evidence to Recommendations Framework to develop recommendations.

In the second half of the meeting, the members received an update on thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) following COVID-19 vaccination. TTS is a rare, life-threatening condition which appears to have a potential causal association with the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine. There has been a total of 28 cases of TTS as of May 7, 2021, and 8.73 million doses of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. There is ongoing safety surveillance and research on TTS.

The members also heard presentations about COVID-19 vaccine safety, COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness studies, and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and related vaccine considerations.

Recommendations
The committee members voted to recommend that “The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is recommended for persons 12–15 years of age under the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization.”

Impact on IIS
The Clinical Decision Support for Immunization (CDSi) rules are currently being developed and reviewed. The draft version will be released soon, and the official version will become available shortly after publication of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

The next scheduled ACIP meeting is June 23–24; however, it is likely that additional meetings will be scheduled before that time.

Thank you.

 


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