The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has just released its Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule for 2020. The new recommendations include a number of changes important for those of us who care for children.
Here are the highlights:
Table 1. The regular immunization schedule detailed in Table 1 includes several changes:
Hepatitis A has changed and is now a recommended catch-up vaccine for all individuals 2-18 years old. The previous recommendation stated that the vaccine should be considered for older children if desired.
The explanatory language in the notes section for meningococcal serogroup B vaccines now states that the decision to administer the vaccine to adolescents "not at increased risk" should be made by shared decision-making and not solely at the discretion of the provider.
Table 2. The "catch-up" schedule listed in Table 2 now clarifies that the catch-up recommendations for meningococcal vaccines apply only to serogroups "ACWY" vaccines.
Table 3.This table clearly spells out the indications and contraindications for each individual vaccine in certain special populations. This table is always worth reviewing, especially when administering live virus vaccines. For example, live attenuated influenza, MMR, and varicella vaccines are not recommended/contraindicated in pregnant women and selected other patients with potentially immunocompromising conditions.
