Federal advisory committee restricts access to MMRV shot for some low-income children [View all]
"ATLANTA — A federal advisory panel that recommends vaccines for the public voted Friday to restrict access to the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella shot for low-income children under the age of 4.
Those children will still be able to receive separate MMR and varicella shots, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already said it prefers as there is a very small but higher seizure risk when giving a combined first dose.
The vote came during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. It centered on whether the combined shot should be covered by the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, which provides low-cost or free vaccines for about half of the children in the country who are uninsured or on Medicaid.
A day earlier, the committee had refused to restrict access to the MMRV vaccine in the program amid confusion about what members were voting for. That vote came even as the committee separately voted 8-3 (with one member abstaining) to recommend that children in general receive the MMR and varicella vaccine in separate shots.
https://www.statnews.com/2025/09/19/mmrv-vaccine-acip-vote-vfc/
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