The deadline to submit a public comment is April 11th.
CDC ACIP Meeting Information – April 15-16, 2025
Comments must be entered by tomorrow April 11th 2025, eastern time.
To put in a comment go to: https://www.regulations.gov/docket/CDC-2025-0017
Then choose the button labeled “Open for Comments” and then the button labeled “Comment”.
The meeting agenda: https://www.cdc.gov/acip/downloads/agendas/Draft-posted-2025-03-24-508.pdf
They will be discussing several vaccines, and voting on RSV vaccine for 50-69 year olds “at high risk” for example.
Here is my submitted comment, and I invite anyone to take from it what you want to draft your own comment.
I really want a Lyme Disease vaccine. I spend time outdoors and constantly exposed to ticks, and thanks to the PA Tick Lab service I’ve found that some of these ticks have been infected. I’ve had family and friends who’ve suffered with Lyme. Please let’s get a Lyme vaccine, it’s past due.
I want the RSV vaccines available to people 50 to 59. Many people in their 50s are not just at high risk because of health issues, but also because of being in contact with grandchildren. According to the University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging 10% of grandparents 50 to 64 provide daily or nearly daily childcare. 18% of grandparents see their grandchild or grandchildren every day or nearly every day. And 6% of grandparents who are 50+ live with their grandchildren. People live in community with toddlers, you can’t leave out people in our 50s.
I want updated covid vaccines to match circulating strains. Eligibility should be for everyone and available prior to the start of the school year to prevent children becoming vectors with schools needing to close because of staff shortages which happens every winter. The covid vaccines need to be available to anyone twice a year so that disabled and elderly people don’t need to dither, or wonder, or jump through hoops to figure it out.
I want flu vaccines available with schedules that are uninterrupted and provided timely.
I very often hear people talk about getting “crud” or “a bug” going around, especially people who’ve been traveling. If fresh vaccine uptake was higher for covid & flu, people would be sick less. People don’t actually like being sick, and nobody’s happy with the staff shortages that cause problems throughout society.
I know that most people want vaccines. I hope that our government, for and by the people, will take note and act accordingly to bring up vaccine coverage across the board for all vaccines.
Reference:
In the Public Comment from the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners posted on Apr 9, 2025, they stated, quote “to empower health care providers and educate patient families, the CDC should reinstate the timely publication of evidence-based guidance ensuring we work together to prevent the spread of illness and improve public health outcomes.” I think this is a good point. I hope more people push for this.
I’ve seen some comments from “anonymous” people saying stuff like “I want my right to be vaccinated!!!” which is fine, I think that person has a right to speak out obviously. But if you can give your name, do so, so that they can’t just claim it’s just foreign bots or something. And be a little specific if possible. At least focus on the ones you’re personally most concerned about, and if possible why.
Try to avoid just parroting marketing material or lingo from social media. Don’t use buzzwords or overly technical jargon, especially if you’re not making the comment as a relevant professional of some type. If you are an expert in something and making a public comment as a professional in the healthcare or science field, include whatever is the expertise in the comment, and how it relates to the topic. (An example is Rob Wallace who made a comment as an evolutionary epidemiologist.) Otherwise, if you’re not an expert, it’s more meaningful if you express your personal reasons you care about the topic. If you do include some kind of science or data, cite your references. (There’s also an option to upload attachments to your comment.)
But your comment doesn’t have to be long or involved. If you don’t have the capacity to really draft a laundry list don’t worry! Making a comment that says “I want vaccination programs because I don’t like getting sick” – that is a perfectly valid way to speak up too.