CDC committee recommends new pentavalent meningococcal vaccine
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Key takeaways:
- A newly approved pentavalent meningococcal vaccine covers serogroups A, B, C, W and Y.
- A CDC advisory committee recommended administering it when both MenACWY and MenB are indicated at the same visit.
A CDC advisory committee voted 10-4 on Wednesday to recommend administering a newly approved pentavalent meningococcal vaccine when vaccination with both a MenACWY and MenB vaccine are indicated at the same visit.
The FDA approved Pfizer’s Penbraya on Friday as the only vaccine covering the five most common serogroups causing meningococcal disease in people aged 10 to 25 years.
The new vaccine comprises the company’s serogroup B shot and its vaccine covering groups A, C, W-135, and Y serogroups, reducing the number of doses needed for individuals to be fully vaccinated against the disease to two shots given 6 months apart.
Four of the 14 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted “no” on the recommendation, with two expressing similar reasons for their vote.
“My vote ‘no’ was because I wanted to vote for a little bit of a broader recommendation,” Katherine A. Poehling, MD, MPH, director of pediatric population health at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said. “I respect [the votes] of my colleagues and believe there are going to be many more conversations to come about meningococcal vaccines.”
The second “no” vote, Veronica V. McNally, JD, president and CEO of the Franny Strong Foundation, said she was also hoping for a broader recommendation.
The panel did unanimously agree to add the vaccine, and an mpox vaccine, to the Vaccines for Children program, a federal program that provides recommended vaccines at no cost to children whose families are uninsured or cannot afford them.
CDC Director Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH, will now choose whether to endorse the committee’s recommendations.
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CDC. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. ACIP presentation slides: October 25-26, 2023 Meeting. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/slides-2023-10-25-26.html. Published Oct. 25, 2023. Accessed Oct. 25, 2023.
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