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The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met on April 15 and 16. This meeting had originally been scheduled for February. The ACIP committee voted to recommend all of the proposals as presented by the meningococcal, chikungunya and RSV (adult) vaccine workgroups:
Meningococcal ABCWY vaccine vote
GSK’s Pentavalent (MenABCWY) vaccine called PENMENVY was recently licensed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The ACIP voted to include this vaccine as an option for use whenever both MenACWY and Men B are indicated at the same visit. This new vaccine from GSK joins the previously licensed and recommended pentavalent product from Pfizer (PENBRAYA) for use as indicated in the CDC: MMWR: Use of the Pfizer Pentavalent Meningococcal Vaccine Among Persons Aged ≥10 Years: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Keep in mind that Men B products are not interchangeable. The 2-dose series must be started and completed with the same brand of Men B product regardless of whether the pentavalent vaccine is used or the single antigen Men B vaccine is used.
Men B is not recommended routinely. It is recommended through shared clinical decision making for:
- Healthy persons age 16–23 years (routine schedule) when shared clinical decision-making favors administration of MenB vaccine AND
- People age 10 years and older who are at increased risk for meningococcal disease (e.g., because of persistent complement deficiencies, complement inhibitor use, or functional or anatomic asplenia)
PENMENVY was also added to the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program in a separate vote.
For more information on meningococcal vaccination recommendations, visit CDC: Vaccines & Immunizations: Child Immunization Schedule Notes and CDC: Shared Clinical Decision-Making: Meningococcal B Vaccination (PDF).
RSV (adult) vaccine vote
The ACIP voted to change the adult RSV vaccine recommendation to include adults 50-59 years of age who are at increased risk of severe RSV disease. Under this new recommendation, adults ages 50-74 years of age who are at increased risk of severe disease can receive RSV vaccine as well as those 75 years and older who were already universally recommended to receive the vaccine.
Currently, only one dose of RSV vaccine per lifetime is recommended for adults. This single dose should be given prior to the respiratory season whenever possible. Only Pfizer’s Abrysvo and GSK’s Arexvy vaccines are included in the new recommendation. mResvia (Moderna’s mRNA RSV vaccine) is not yet licensed for people 50–59-year-old. People can self-attest to the presence of a risk factor. For more information about medical and other conditions that increase the risk of severe RSV disease, visit CDC: Vaccines & Immunizations: Adult Immunization Schedule Notes.
Chikungunya vaccine vote
The ACIP committee accepted the workgroup’s proposal to add a precaution to the use of the live attenuated Chikungunya vaccine, Ixchiq, in people ages 65 years and older. This proposal followed a review of safety data that included six detailed reports of serious adverse events in U.S. adults over age 65 years that occurred within 3-5 days of vaccination. All the people required hospitalization but there were no deaths. Underlying health conditions were present. Learn more at CDC: Chikungunya Virus: Chikungunya Vaccine.
A new chikungunya virus-like particle vaccine (CHIK-VLP) was licensed in Feb. 2025. The ACIP voted to recommend its use for people 12 years and older traveling to a country or territory where there is a chikungunya outbreak. CHIK-VLP vaccine also may be considered for people ages 12 year and older traveling or taking up residence in a country or territory without an outbreak but with elevated risk for U.S. traveler if planning travel for an extended period (e.g. 6 months or more).
The ACIP also voted to recommend CHIK-VLP vaccine for use in laboratory workers with potential for exposure to chikungunya vaccine.
More information
Additional data and presentations were provided by the following vaccine workgroups: COVID-19, influenza, RSV (maternal & infant), pneumococcal, cytomegalovirus, Lyme Disease, mpox, and human papillomavirus. The slides for these presentations can be found at CDC: ACIP: ACIP Presentation Slides: April 15-16, 2025 Meeting. To watch the full meeting or any part of the meeting, visit ACIP (April 15) and ACIP (April 16).
A summary of the ACIP meeting highlights can be found in Immunize.org: IZ Express Issue 1810. Consider signing up to receive Immunize.org: About IZ Express weekly newsletters to stay up-to-date on the latest immunization information.
ACIP recommendations are forwarded to CDC’s Director and once adopted become official CDC policy. These recommendations are then published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
At the time this article was written, the CDC had not yet approved the new recommendations from the April meeting. The CDC: ACIP: ACIP Recommendations website will be updated once the recommendations are adopted.
The next ACIP meeting is scheduled for June 25-26, 2025.
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