How CDC is Making COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations

Hi, I'm doctor Amanda Cohn.

I'm a physician and a medical officer

in CDC's National Center for
Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

and currently serve as the
executive secretary for the

Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices or ACIP.

I'd like to share with you

how this devoted group of experts
develops recommendations

and advises CDC on the use
of vaccines in our country.

ACIP is dedicated to making evidence
and science based recommendations

to prevent and control
vaccine preventable diseases,

like COVID-19.

They are motivated
by their intention to save lives,

are free from political influence,

and ensure transparency

by holding all of their meetings
open to the public

and making them available online.

The committee is made up
of fifteen voting members,

who are medical and public health experts
from across the United States,

including one person
who represents the general public.

They review information about
the safety and effectiveness

of vaccines and clinical trial results,
and then vote to recommend

whether those vaccines
should be used in the United States

The committee also has
non-voting members,

such as representatives from
the American Nurses Association,

American Medical Association,
American Academy of Pediatrics,

and the American College of Physicians.

It's important to have these
individuals on the committee,

because they offer
the perspective of doctors

nurses, and other healthcare providers

CDC's vaccine recommendations and put them

into practice. A lot of effort has gone

into developing, studying and authorizing

COVID-19 vaccines quickly to respond to

the pandemic we are facing. It is

understandable that you may be concerned

about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines,

given how quickly they have been developed.

Despite this rapid pace, COVID-19 vaccines

go through the same rigorous review

process as all other vaccines, before this

committee votes on whether to recommend

them. Vaccine safety is always the top

priority and it is no different for

COVID-19 vaccines. Since the beginning of

the pandemic, ACIP has met often, to stay

informed about COVID-19 vaccines. After

each COVID-19 vaccine is authorized or

approved for use in the United States,

ACIP will quickly meet to review available

data from the rigorous studies that vaccine

manufacturers conducted, to show that each

vaccine meets safety and effectiveness

standards. After discussion and public

comment, the committee will vote on

whether or not to recommend the vaccine,

and if so, who should receive it. This is

the same process ACIP uses for all

vaccines, the same process that has

recommended the safe and successful

vaccines that protect our communities from

diseases that once killed hundreds of

thousands each year. It is my sincere hope

that hundreds of thousands more lives

will be saved with safe vaccines for

COVID-19. However, no one tool alone is

going to stop the COVID-19 pandemic.

For now, your best protection will be a

combination of getting a COVID-19 vaccine

when it is recommended for you, and then

continuing to cover your nose and mouth

with a mask, stay at least six feet away

from others, and wash your hands often.

COVID-19 vaccines will be an important

tool to help stop this pandemic. For more

information, go to cdc.gov/coronavirus