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US CDC Panel’s Pneumococcal Vaccine Recommendations Leave Confusion In Their Wake

 
• By Sue Sutter

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ October vote on use of Pfizer’s Prevnar 20 and Merck & Co’s Vaxneuvance was more restrictive than intended, inadvertently leaving out guidance for people who were previously vaccinated with Prevnar 13.

Pneumococcal vaccine checklist
Only older or immunocompromised people who are naive to pneumococcal conjugate vaccines may get one of the newly licensed formulations under ACIP's current recommendations. • Source: Alamy

A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee’s recent recommendations on use of new pneumococcal conjugate vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. are causing confusion among the panel itself, further highlighting the challenge the CDC has had in providing clear guidance on immunization against pneumococcal disease in recent years.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ vote at an October meeting was more restrictive than some members realized at the time and does not offer the flexibility to recommend a dose of the new 15-valent or 20-valent products to individuals

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