2020-00254. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP); Notice of Meeting and Request for Comment

AGENCY:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

ACTION:

Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), announces the following meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). This meeting is open to the public, limited only by room seating. The meeting room accommodates 216 for public seating. Room 245, adjacent to the meeting room, will be available once the meeting room reaches capacity, providing up to 18 additional seats. Time will be available for public comment. The meeting will be webcast live via the World Wide Web; for meeting registration and more information on ACIP please visit the ACIP website: http://www.cdc.gov/​vaccines/​acip/​index.html.

DATES:

The meeting will be held on February 26, 2020, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., EST, and February 27, 2020, 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. EST.

Written comments must be received on or before February 28, 2020.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2020-0002 by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS A-27, Atlanta, GA 30329-4027, Attn: February ACIP Meeting.

Instructions: All submissions received must include the Agency name and Docket Number. All relevant comments received in conformance with the https://www.regulations.gov suitability policy will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov,, including any personal information provided. For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov. Written public comments submitted by 72 hours prior to the ACIP meeting will be provided to ACIP members before the meeting.

Meeting location: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Tom Harkin Global Communications Center, Building 19, Kent `Oz' Nelson Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia, 30329-4027.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stephanie Thomas, ACIP Committee Management Specialist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30329-4027; Telephone: [phone]; Email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose: The committee is charged with advising the Director, CDC, on the use of immunizing agents. In addition, under 42 U.S.C. 1396s, the committee is mandated to establish and periodically review and, as appropriate, revise the list of vaccines for administration to vaccine-eligible children through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, along with schedules regarding dosing interval, dosage, and contraindications to administration of vaccines. Further, under provisions of the Affordable Care Act, section 2713 of the Public Health Service Act, immunization recommendations of the ACIP that have been approved by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and appear on CDC immunization schedules must be covered by applicable health plans.

Public Participation

Interested persons or organizations are invited to participate by submitting written views, recommendations, and data. Please note that comments received, including attachments and other supporting materials, are part of the public record and are subject to public disclosure. Comments will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov. Therefore, do not include any information in your comment or supporting materials that you consider confidential or inappropriate for public disclosure. If you include your name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in the body of your comments, that information will be on public display. CDC will review all submissions and may choose to redact, or withhold, submissions containing private or proprietary information such as Social Security numbers, medical information, inappropriate language, or duplicate/near duplicate examples of a mass-mail campaign. CDC will carefully consider all comments submitted in to the docket.

Oral Public Comment: This meeting will include time for members of the public to make an in-person oral comment. Oral public comment will occur before any scheduled votes including all votes relevant to the ACIP's Affordable Care Act and Vaccines for Children Program roles. Priority will be given to individuals who submit a request to make an oral public comment before the meeting according to the procedures below. On-site, in-person registration for oral public comment at the meeting will only be available if there is time remaining in the oral public comment session after all individuals who submitted a request to make an oral comment before the meeting have had an opportunity to speak. There is no guarantee there will be an opportunity for on-site, in-person registration for oral public comment, and all individuals interested in requesting to make an oral public comment are strongly encouraged to submit a request according to the instructions below.

Procedure for Oral Public Comment: All persons interested in making an oral public comment at the February ACIP meeting must submit a request at https://www.cdc.gov/​vaccines/​acip/​meetings/​ no later than 11:59 p.m., EST, February 10, 2020 according to the instructions provided.

If the number of persons requesting to speak is greater than can be reasonably accommodated during the scheduled time, CDC will conduct a lottery to determine the speakers for each scheduled public comment session. CDC staff will notify individuals regarding their request to speak by email by February 13, 2020. To accommodate the significant interest in participation in the oral public comment session of ACIP meetings, each speaker will be limited to 3 minutes, and each speaker may only speak once per meeting.

Written Public Comment: Written comments must be received on or before February 28, 2020.

Matters to be Considered: The agenda will include discussions on influenza vaccines, general best practices, dengue vaccine, rabies vaccine, Ebola vaccine, meningococcal vaccines, orthopoxviruses, and hepatitis B vaccine. A recommendation vote is scheduled for Ebola vaccine. Agenda items are subject to change as priorities dictate. For more information on the meeting agenda visit https://www.cdc.gov/​vaccines/​acip/​meetings/​meetings-info.html.

The Director, Strategic Business Initiatives Unit, Office of the Chief Operating Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been delegated the authority to sign Federal Register notices pertaining to announcements of meetings and other committee management activities, for both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Kalwant Smagh,

Director, Strategic Business Initiatives Unit, Office of the Chief Operating Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.