CDC working group plans to review US child vaccines as thousands of health staff are fired in government shutdown

The US CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has announced plans for a new working group to review childhood vaccine schedules, including data on timing, coadministration, and safety.

However, the group’s work may be disrupted by the federal shutdown,1 during which the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) issued—and later rescinded—hundreds of termination notices to staff.

The federal shutdown began on 1 October after the Senate failed to pass a funding bill for 2026. Over the weekend of 11-13 October several thousand government employees, furloughed as part of the shutdown, were dismissed by …