New York (August 5, 2025) – On July 31, 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notified all organizational liaisons to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) that they were no longer eligible to serve as members of work groups established by ACIP to consider published and unpublished evidence on vaccine efficacy and safety. These work groups serve an important function in the development of recommendations to ACIP as to which vaccines should be on the vaccination schedules for children and adults, including older adults. In its notification, CDC conveyed that this decision is being made because CDC believes that organizational liaisons are inherently biased as they represent special interest groups.
The AGS mission is to improve the health, independence, and quality of life of all older adults. We are committed to ensuring federal policy impacting the health of older Americans is informed by geriatrics health professionals who have the clinical and scientific expertise that is needed to guide development of healthcare policies. We believe vaccines are essential to preventing or lessening the impact of infectious diseases on older adults given our immune systems weaken as we age. These impacts can include exacerbation of chronic conditions, acceleration of disability (e.g., a prolonged hospital stay for pneumonia could result in decreased mobility and increased need for assistance with activities of daily living), or hastening the death of older Americans.
With regard to ACIP, this federal advisory committee to the CDC is making clinical recommendations on vaccines for children, adults, and older adults. It is critically important that ACIP have access to the specialized expertise of our members. We are deeply concerned that this action, following as it does on the heels of the dismissal of every member of ACIP in June, will result in a decline in the health and well-being of older Americans. AGS remains committed to ensuring that the adult vaccination schedule is based on available scientific evidence and focused on protecting all of us from infectious diseases as we age.
We call on the Administration to reconsider its decision and ensure that vaccine policy in the United States is informed by scientific and clinical expertise, is evidence-based, and focused on our collective health and well-being. The American public deserves nothing less.
About the American Geriatrics Society
Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide, not-for-profit society of geriatrics healthcare professionals dedicated to improving the health, independence, and quality of life of older people. Our 6,000+ members include geriatricians, geriatrics nurse practitioners, social workers, family practitioners, physician associates, pharmacists, and internists who are pioneers in serious illness care for older individuals, with a focus on championing interprofessional teams, eliciting personal care goals, and treating older people as whole persons. AGS is an anti-discriminatory organization. We believe in a society where we all are supported by and able to contribute to communities where ageism, ableism, classism, homophobia, racism, sexism, xenophobia, and other forms of bias and discrimination no longer impact healthcare access, quality, and outcomes for older adults and their caregivers. AGS advocates for policies and programs that support the health, independence, and quality of life of all of us as we age.