August 2, 2025
A Statement by the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) strongly condemns the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) abrupt removal of all 32 professional and public health organizations designated as liaison organizations, including SAHM, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the American College of Physicians (ACP), and many other critical organizations, from participation in workgroups of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
Vaccines are among the most effective tools for protecting health at every stage, from before birth through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, preventing serious infectious diseases and saving lives.
For decades, ACIP has relied on the expertise of clinicians, scientists, public health professionals, and scientific societies to ensure that vaccine recommendations are rigorous, evidence-based, and responsive to the needs of children, adolescents, young adults, and adults. Excluding liaison organizations from the workgroup process is an unprecedented departure from established practice, compromising scientific integrity and public trust in the vaccination recommendations that guide care.
The implications are profound:
- SAHM and our partner organizations will no longer have a seat at the table in reviewing evidence or shaping recommendations for vaccines that directly affect the health of adolescents and young adults.
- Our participation is now limited to the public comment period during open ACIP meetings, leaving us excluded from the substantive scientific work that shapes vaccine policy.
- Disallowing liaison members from ACIP workgroups excludes external clinical and scientific expertise from the essential processes of evidence review and group deliberation, increasing the risk that policy proposals lack transparency, scientific rigor, and broad stakeholder input.
- These changes increase the risk of disease resurgence and erode both professional and public trust in immunization recommendations.
SAHM calls for the immediate restoration of liaison organization participation in all ACIP workgroup activities, and for a transparent, independent, science-driven process in the development of vaccine recommendations. We stand ready to collaborate with our partner organizations, policymakers, and the public to safeguard the health and wellbeing of all adolescents and young adults.
We urge clinicians, researchers, and advocates to speak out and demand that vaccine policy remain grounded in science, not ideology.