Exclusive: US CDC cancels February vaccine adviser meeting, no new one set yet

Source: Reuters

February 19, 2026 1:32 PM EST Updated 49 mins ago


Feb 19 (Reuters) - A U.S. vaccine advisory committee meeting scheduled for later this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will not be held, with no new dates announced, according to a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stepped up efforts to rewrite national vaccination policy, including dropping broad recommendations for six childhood shots including COVID and hepatitis B, deepening federal support for states' vaccine exemptions, and cutting funding for mRNA-based vaccine research.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which makes recommendations for who should get which vaccines, had been scheduled to meet from February 25-27, according to the CDC's website. But no Federal Register notice had been made to announce the meeting, nor had the CDC posted an agenda.

"We will not hold the ACIP meeting later this month. Further information will be shared as available," HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said. Later on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice notified a federal judge in Boston of the postponement, which occurred days after medical groups opposed to Kennedy's vaccine agenda had gone to court asking him to block the panel from meeting.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/meeting-us-cdc-vaccine-advisers-will-not-be-held-february-2026-02-19/