Protecting Our Children from the CDC Act
H.R. 87, the Protecting Our Children from the CDC Act, would alter how COVID-19 vaccines are added to the child and adolescent immunization schedule. It would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (and any HHS office, including the CDC and the ACIP) to post on the CDC’s public website all clinical data in DHHS possession related to the safety and efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine (with data deidentified to protect privacy) before that vaccine can be included on the child/adolescent schedule. If a COVID-19 vaccine is already on the schedule as of enactment, the bill automatically removes it, with the Secretary responsible for taking actions to effectuate removal. A vaccine could be reconsidered for placement on the schedule only if the data posting requirement in the bill is satisfied. In short, the bill creates a public-data prerequisite for adding COVID-19 vaccines to pediatric immunization guidance and, once enacted, would temporarily remove any such vaccines from the schedule until that data transparency condition is met.
Key Points
- 1No inclusion of COVID vaccines on the child/adolescent schedule without posting all related clinical data on the CDC website, including safety, efficacy, and adverse effects.
- 2Data posted must be deidentified to protect individual privacy and exclude identifying agency or sponsor personnel information.
- 3Any COVID-19 vaccine already on the schedule at enactment would be removed automatically; the Secretary must take steps to remove it.
- 4A vaccine can be re-added to the schedule only if the data posting requirement (a) is satisfied and other legal requirements are met.
- 5The “child and adolescent immunization schedule” means the ACIP schedule or any successor schedule used for pediatric vaccination guidance.