What is the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP?
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is a group of 15 vaccine experts who provide written guidance on the vaccination of children and adults in the United States. ACIP members are vaccination experts from outside the federal government. Each expert is selected by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ACIP provides this guidance to the Director of the CDC and Secretary of HHS. The purpose of this body is to ensure that proper guidance is given to states to control the spread of infectious disease. The guidance offered by ACIP includes how vaccines should be given, the age groups to which they should be given, and the number of doses required for each vaccine. This guidance is based on the best available science. All ACIP vaccine guidance will be reviewed by CDC to decide which vaccines should be given to applicants who would like to live in the United States permanently. For more information on the ACIP, please see: http://www.cdc.go