Pfizer reports that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend that decisions to vaccinate adolescents and young adults 16 through 23 years of age against serogroup B meningococcal disease should be made at the individual level with healthcare providers. Specifically, the ACIP voted that a serogroup B meningococcal (MenB) vaccine series may be administered to adolescents and young adults 16 through 23 years of age to provide short term protection against most strains of serogroup B meningococcal disease. The preferred age for MenB vaccination is 16 through 18 years of age.

This recommendation expands the CDC's ACIP February 2015 recommendation for serogroup B meningococcal vaccination. The ACIP recommendation will be forwarded to the director of the CDC and the US Department of Health and Human Services for review and approval. Once approved, the recommendations are published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Vaccines for Children (VFC) program ensure coverage for all vaccines administered in accordance with ACIP recommendations.

Pfizer's Trumenba (meningococcal group B vaccine) is FDA-approved for active immunization to prevent invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B in individuals 10 through 25 years of age.

Source: Pfizer