Abstract

Dear all,

June was a notable month for NITAGs, marked by the scheduled meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) on June 25–26. This meeting took place just two weeks after Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unilaterally replaced all 17 existing ACIP members with seven new appointees. This recent development serves as a strong reminder of the critical need to safeguard the integrity and independence of NITAGs through well-defined processes, transparent governance, and supportive legal frameworks, including immunization laws. At its March Meeting, SAGE also called for countries to demonstrate their commitment by increasing domestic funding to support the NITAG secretariats and their operations and enacting legislation that recognizes the role, importance, and functionality of NITAGs.

The ACIP meeting presentations – developed by CDC staff –  can be found here.

Former ACIP members wrote an article worth reading here.

Another major change for JCVI (UK NITAG) leadership: A new JCVI chair was announced on 3 June 2025. Professor Wei Shen Lim KBE will become the new JCVI chair from 1 October 2025. Professor Sir Andrew Pollard is stepping down after 12 years of leadership.

Measles

  • NACI (Canadian NITAG) updated their recommendations on measles post-exposure prophylaxis, available here. NACI continues to strongly recommend completion of the routine childhood and adult recommended immunization schedule with a measles-containing vaccine.
    • High (e.g., >95%) routine measles immunization coverage provides herd immunity protecting people who live in Canada and ensuring Canada remains free of endemic measles.
    • Routine immunization against measles is the best tool to mitigate the size of measles outbreaks and reduce the need for measles post-exposure prophylaxis.
    • In the absence of contraindication to the vaccine, a measles-containing vaccine series is effective in protecting immunocompetent individuals and is a preferred strategy.

NACI recommends that post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) following exposure to measles should be offered to individuals not expected to have measles immunity.

  • The NITAG of Belgium published their advice on Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) for Measles. The report is available here.

COVID-19

  • Swedish NITAG issued recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination from September 1 2025, available here. As of September 1 2025, The Public Health Agency of Sweden recommends a single dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, preferably administered during the autumn, to
    • All individuals aged 75 and above
    • All individuals aged 18 and above with immunosuppression due to medical treatment, organ transplantation, haematological malignancies or other immunosuppressive conditions such as chronic kidney disease stages 3–5.
    • Individuals aged 50-74 with at least one of the following underlying conditions that increase the risk of severe COVID-19: Ischemic heart disease (excluding hypertension as the sole diagnosis), Chronic pulmonary disease such as COPD or severe asthma, Diabetes mellitus (type 1 and 2), Liver failure, Chronic kidney disease stages 3–5, Conditions that reduce lung volume or respiratory capacity, such as obesity with BMI 40 or above, Other diseases or conditions that significantly impact overall health and increase the risk of severe COVID-19, such as dementia, psychiatric disorders, or alcohol/drug abuse.
    • Individuals who are not covered by the recommendation as per the definition above, but have advanced illness or conditions that impair their health in a way that puts them at risk of severe COVID-19, are prescribed the vaccine by a doctor. Examples of such illnesses may include severe lung disease or pronounced frailty due to extensive comorbidities.

The recommendations are available in Swedish here.

  • The UK government has accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for the autumn 2025 COVID-19 vaccination programme. More information here.

SAGE

  • The March 2025 SAGE meeting report has been published and is now available here.
  • The Herpes zoster position paper is out, available here.

Training opportunity:

  • ADVAC: the applications for ADVAC 2026 are now open. The course will be held from 11 to 22 May 2026  in Annecy, France. For more details on the application process and the selection criteria, please click on HOW TO APPLY  on the ADVAC website. The application deadline is 15 November 2025, and successful candidates will be notified by early February 2026.

To those heading off on holiday — enjoy every minute of your well-deserved break! And to the rest of us holding down the fort — hang in there, your turn will come!

Best wishes,

Louise

NITAG Recommendation