HHS Quietly Refiles Charters for ACCV and NVAC Amid Vaccine Conversations

Two federal vaccine advisory bodies have new charters on file. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) filed a renewed charter for the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines (ACCV) on July 21, 2026, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) filed a renewed charter for the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) on July 7, 2026.^1,2

Both filings are routine in the sense that Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) charters must be renewed every 2 years, but the NVAC version in particular incorporates duties and priorities that mark a departure from the committee's historical scientific focus.

What the ACCV Charter Covers

The ACCV is authorized under Section 2119 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act and, per its charter, advises the HHS secretary on the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, including recommending changes to the Vaccine Injury Table and advising on data collection related to childhood vaccine adverse reactions.¹

The commission is composed of 9 secretary-appointed members: 3 health professionals with expertise in childhood disease prevention and vaccine adverse reactions (at least 2 of whom must be pediatricians), 3 public members (at least 2 of whom must be legal representatives of a person who suffered a vaccine-related injury or death), and 3 attorneys, plus 4 nonvoting ex-officio members from the National Institutes of Health, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The commission is required to meet 4 times per year, with a quorum of 5, and its charter terminates 2 years from its July 21, 2026, filing date unless renewed.¹

What the NVAC Charter Now Includes

The NVAC charter, authorized under Section 2105 of the PHS Act, directs the committee to advise the Assistant Secretary for Health, acting as Director of the National Vaccine Program, on matters tied to vaccine supply, safety, and research priorities. Its stated duties remain focused on encouraging an adequate supply of safe and effective vaccines, recommending research priorities, and identifying areas for governmental and nongovernmental cooperation on immunization.²

Notably, the current charter's objectives section directs the committee to "consider and coordinate with broader communicable disease authorities, including nonimmunization strategies for individuals who are unable to be vaccinated or who choose not to be vaccinated due to medical contraindications or strongly held personal, conscientious, or religious beliefs," specifying that those strategies "should include healthy lifestyle and disease prevention initiatives, off-label repurposed use of existing FDA-approved drugs, and the use of dietary supplements known to support healthy immune function."²

The charter's subcommittee provisions echo this framing, listing potential topics such as "opportunities to boost natural immunity through healthy lifestyle" and "development of personalized vaccinology approaches" alongside more traditional vaccine-safety subjects.²

In structure, the NVAC now consists of 17 voting members (15 public members, including the chair, plus 2 vaccine-manufacturing-industry representatives), appointed by the Director of the National Vaccine Program with nonbinding consultation from the National Academy of Sciences. The charter caps pharmaceutical-industry-affiliated and industry-funded academic members at no more than one-third of the committee and requires public members to make up at least one-third. Meetings must occur a minimum of 3 times per year, and the charter is set to expire July 7, 2028.²

A Broader Pattern in Vaccine Advisory Governance

The ACCV and NVAC filings follow a similar, already-contested revision to the charter of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the panel that sets the US vaccination schedule. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), joined by the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists, said the revised ACIP charter "changes the fundamental focus, membership structure, and governance of the committee" in ways that "will lead to confusion and delays that threaten public access to lifesaving vaccines and evidence-based, accurate information."³

The groups specifically objected to a shift of governance authority to the CDC director and to a charter provision allowing meetings to be held "at the discretion of the ACIP DFO in consultation with the Chair,” with no fixed frequency required, calling it a departure from "past practice of having regularly scheduled meetings open to the public."³

That ACIP revision followed a March 2026 preliminary injunction from US District Judge Brian Murphy, who found HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr had likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act by cutting the routine childhood vaccine schedule from 17 vaccines to 11 without proper scientific review.³ Taken together with the ACCV and NVAC refilings, the pattern suggests HHS is revisiting the governing documents of multiple vaccine advisory bodies within a similar window.

Why Pharmacists Should Pay Attention

Pharmacists rely on these advisory committees indirectly but significantly, with ACIP recommendations shaping the scope of practice, insurance coverage, and liability protections tied to vaccine administration, while the ACCV and NVAC influence the injury compensation and program-level infrastructure surrounding vaccination.^3,4

On July 9, 2026, the American Pharmacists Association and 8 partnering pharmacy organizations sent a joint letter to Secretary Kennedy raising concerns specifically about the revised ACIP charter, arguing it "could disrupt the evidence-based framework that has historically guided US immunization policy."⁴

The coalition—which also includes the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists, the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, ASCP–Age Friendly Pharmacists and Pharmacies, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the Pediatric Pharmacy Association, and the Society of Infectious Diseases—asked HHS to preserve transparent, merit-based selection of ACIP voting members and liaisons, to prioritize pharmacists with immunization experience for committee seats, to mandate a minimum number of annual ACIP meetings, to require prompt recommendation votes after FDA approvals or label changes, and to mandate publication of ACIP recommendations in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.⁴

The letter cited 2025-2026 season data showing pharmacies administered 62% of adult influenza vaccines, 96% of respiratory syncytial virus vaccines, and 89% of COVID-19 vaccines nationwide, underscoring how directly pharmacy practice depends on predictable advisory-committee output.⁴

Although that letter addressed ACIP specifically, its core concern, that unpredictable or destructured advisory processes can delay recommendations pharmacists depend on for scope of practice and billing, applies with equal force to any restructuring of the ACCV or NVAC, both of which feed into the same federal vaccine infrastructure pharmacists navigate daily.

REFERENCES

1. Health Resources and Services Administration. Charter: Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines. HRSA.gov. Filed July 21, 2024. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://www.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/hrsa/advisory-committees/vaccines/accv-charter.pdf

2. US Department of Health and Human Services. NVAC Charter. HHS.gov. Filed July 7, 2026. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://www.hhs.gov/vaccines/nvac/charter/index.html

3. Gallagher A. New ACIP charter may potentially delay vaccine recommendations. Drug Topics. July 2, 2026. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/new-acip-charter-may-potentially-delay-vaccine-recommendations

4. Gallagher A. Pharmacy groups urge HHS to restore confidence in vaccine advisory process. Drug Topics. July 18, 2026. Accessed July 28, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/pharmacy-groups-urge-hhs-to-restore-confidence-in-vaccine-advisory-process