After two days of heated debate and a series of surprising votes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has upended long-standing guidance on several major vaccines, including those for COVID-19, measles, and hepatitis B. The meetings, which concluded on September 19, 2025, were the first since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the previous panel and installed a new slate of members, many of whom were appointed just days before the session began, according to CBS News and Nexstar Media.
The most headline-grabbing decision came with the committee’s unanimous vote to abandon its universal recommendation for annual COVID-19 shots for everyone six months and older. Instead, the panel now suggests Americans make the choice to vaccinate “based on individual-based decision-making”—in other words, it’s a personal choice rather than a blanket recommendation. This marks a sharp departure from the CDC’s prior guidance, which had urged universal vaccination as a tool to combat the pandemic’s spread. As ABC News reported, the panel’s new stance means COVID-19 vaccines are no longer officially recommended for all, but remain available to anyone who wants them, provided they can navigate potential confusion and their state’s rules.
“The good news is anyone can get this vaccine. The bad news is that no one is encouraged to get it even if you’re in a high-risk group,” Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told the Associated Press, as cited by CBS News. Offit, a former government adviser, has often sparred with Secretary Kennedy over vaccine policy.
Notably, the panel also voted against requiring a prescription for the COVID-19 vaccine, with many members expressing concern that such a rule would create unnecessary barriers to access. The vote was tied, but the ACIP chair broke the deadlock to keep the vaccine available without a prescription, according to CBS News. This decision is especially significant given that CDC data presented at the meeting showed about two-thirds of adults who received a COVID-19 shot last year got it at a pharmacy—often without a doctor’s visit.
Despite the change in recommendation, federal vaccine programs will continue to cover the cost of COVID-19 vaccines, and most major private insurers have pledged to do the same through at least 2026, ABC News confirmed. The Department of Health and Human Services stated that coverage will remain in place for public programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, as well as for plans purchased through the federal health insurance marketplace.
Still, the panel’s move has drawn mixed reactions. The AARP voiced concern that the new guidance could make it harder for older Americans to access vaccines proven to protect their health. Senator Patty Murray of Washington, meanwhile, criticized the panel as “newly reconstituted with unqualified vaccine skeptics” and called the decision “deeply disturbing and not based in science.” She argued that “their vote today means that many Americans who want the COVID vaccine may not be able to get it.” On the other hand, Sanofi, which markets the non-mRNA COVID shot developed by Novavax, welcomed the decision to keep the vaccine available, saying it was “encouraged that the Committee voted to recommend COVID vaccines.”
The panel’s recommendations carry enormous weight, as most private insurers are required to cover shots that ACIP endorses, and many state vaccine policies are tied to the committee’s guidelines, according to Nexstar Media. However, these recommendations are not mandates and must be reviewed and approved by the CDC director before becoming official guidance. Historically, CDC directors have almost always accepted ACIP’s proposals.
The COVID-19 discussion was not without controversy. The session included presentations that promoted unsubstantiated claims about vaccine safety—such as allegations of contamination and links to cancer and birth defects—which, as Nexstar Media pointed out, have no basis in the scientific evidence amassed from billions of vaccine doses administered worldwide. Food and Drug Administration senior adviser Tracy Beth Høeg responded only that the agency takes public safety seriously, without outright denying the claims. Pfizer, which had only a brief window to present, countered that its vaccine saved between five and seven thousand lives in the last year.
Beyond COVID-19, the ACIP made another significant change to the childhood vaccine schedule. On September 18, 2025, the committee voted 8-3 to recommend delaying use of the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine for children under four years old, instead supporting separate MMR and varicella shots. The move came after data showed a slightly higher risk of febrile seizures—brief, fever-related convulsions—when the combined vaccine is given as the first dose to toddlers aged 12-23 months, particularly between 14 and 18 months, as explained by CBS News medical contributor Dr. Céline Gounder. While febrile seizures are rare and almost always resolve without lasting effects, they can be frightening for families and erode trust in vaccines.
Some panel members and outside medical groups argued there was no new evidence to justify the change and warned that removing the combined shot could reduce parental choice. Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth, voted against the change, stating that while febrile seizures occur in 3 to 5 percent of all children and are scary, “they aren’t associated with any sort of impairment.” The panel’s decision means about 15 percent of children—those who would have received the combined shot—will now get two separate injections instead.
The committee also held a re-vote on whether the combined MMRV vaccine should be covered under the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, which provides free or low-cost vaccines to uninsured or Medicaid-eligible children. Due to confusion over the wording of the initial vote, the panel reversed its earlier decision after a second round of voting.
Perhaps the most contentious issue was the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns. For 34 years, U.S. policy has recommended all infants receive their first dose at birth, a measure credited with virtually eliminating the virus among babies and preventing thousands of chronic infections. The panel considered a proposal to delay the first dose until one month of age for babies born to mothers who test negative for hepatitis B during pregnancy. However, after a confusing and contentious debate, the committee indefinitely postponed the vote, leaving the current recommendation in place. As infectious disease experts and Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana pointed out, delaying the birth dose could risk missing infants whose mothers are unknowingly infected. “President Trump and I agree: vaccines save lives. If a mom wants to get a lifesaving hepatitis B vaccine to protect her newborn, she should be able to get it,” Cassidy stated.
Throughout the meetings, confusion and inexperience were evident, with several panelists expressing uncertainty about the voting process and the language of proposals. About half of the committee members had just been appointed earlier in the week, according to Nexstar Media. Still, the panel did unanimously support universal hepatitis B screening for all pregnant women, an important step in preventing transmission to newborns.
The ACIP’s latest actions reflect a turbulent moment for vaccine policy in the United States. As the CDC director prepares to review the committee’s recommendations, Americans are left to navigate a new landscape—one where vaccine decisions are increasingly individualized, and the lines between public health guidance and personal choice have never seemed blurrier.
