The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will meet later this month to “to publicly discuss and make recommendations on the selection of the 2025-2026 Formula for COVID-19 vaccines for use in the United States.”

The meeting will take place on May 22nd.

From the FDA:

On May 22, 2025, the committee will meet in open session to discuss and make recommendations on the selection of the 2025-2026 Formula for COVID-19 vaccines for use in the United States. The meeting presentations will be heard, viewed, captioned, and recorded through an online teleconferencing and/or video conferencing platform.

FDA intends to make background material available to the public no later than 2 business days before the meeting. If FDA is unable to post the background material on its website prior to the meeting, the background material will be made publicly available on FDA’s website at the time of the advisory committee meeting. Background material and the link to the online teleconference and/or video conference meeting will be available at the Advisory Committee calendar.

Scroll down to the appropriate advisory committee meeting link. The meeting will include slide presentations with audio and video components to allow the presentation of materials in a manner that most closely resembles an in-person advisory committee meeting.

ADVERTISEMENT

The FDA faced fierce criticism for the announcement:

According to previous reports, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering removing the COVID-19 jab from the CDC’s recommended childhood immunization schedule.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Considers Removal Of Vaccine From CDC Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule, Report Says

From POLITICO:

Eliminating the vaccine from the CDC schedule would not bar kids from receiving it. But the change would represent an extraordinary intervention by Kennedy to override the agency’s scientific decision-making and reverse a recommendation backed by the CDC and a slate of independent advisers just three years ago.

The removal would also likely influence vaccination procedures across the nation. Pediatricians rely on the CDC schedule to determine which vaccines they should give children and when to administer them, in order to protect against a range of common infectious diseases.

The schedule is also closely watched by insurers in deciding which vaccines to cover, as well as states and localities that determine which vaccines schools require for students — though no states currently mandate the Covid shot.

The specifics of the removal are still under discussion and could change, said the two people, who were granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations.

 

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.