Public Comments Due Today! CDC Must Protect Universal Access to COVID Vaccines and Establish Science-Based Expert Oversight on Long COVID
Public Comments to CDC ACIP vaccine committee close by 3/12 at 11:59pm EDT. Everyone must have access to COVID Vaccines and Ensure Long COVID is properly addressed.
Speak up to preserve universal access to COVID vaccines and ensure Long COVID is prevented and treated. We need to flood the CDC with our voices in support of vaccines and to protect the future of public health and medicine. We are facing one of the largest public crises in decades and on multiple fronts.
The interim CDC director, Jay Bhattacharya, who also is the director of the NIH, does not have time to properly run two major public health agencies, each with billion dollar budgets. His lack of support for COVID vaccines is incredibly concerning. Also concerning is the upcoming March 18-19 CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting, which will discuss vaccine injuries and Long COVID. There is clear evidence that vaccines are widely effective at reducing severe illness, death, and Long COVID.
The upcoming meeting may further restrict access to COVID vaccines. Universal access to COVID vaccines must be guaranteed to preserve public health. The public has an opportunity to oppose moves to restrict vaccine access by submitting a “Public Comment” at the upcoming March 18 to 19 ACIP meeting. Public comments opened on March 2 and will close March 12.
Again, it’s urgent to have tens of thousands of comments, flooding the CDC with our voices in support of vaccines and to protect the future of public health and medicine. The last day to submit a written public comment is March 12, 2026.
Learn more about the ACIP meeting at the Federal Register or at the CDC.
You may also seek to speak to committee members, giving a live oral comment at the meeting (via online teleconferencing), by filling out the oral comment registration form by March 12. All fields are required and you are asked to choose either March 18 or 19. If you are not affiliated with an organization, you can write “Self” or “Not Affiliated” in the organization field. If you are selected for oral comment, you will receive a confirmation email and instructions by March 16, and must respond to confirm your spot to speak. Selected speakers will have 3 minutes. Again, the deadline to register to speak at ACIP’s meeting is March 12.
Our template below makes it easy to submit a written public comment.
See the CDC’s ACIP meeting page for additional meeting details: https://www.cdc.gov/acip/meetings/index.html
We provide some key talking points below for your comment, and a sample comment is below the divider. Feel free to copy, modify, and share any of the text for your own advocacy.
The best comments start with a personal perspective so please add in a sentence or two about why you and your community want vaccines.
Key points include these:
ACIP must acknowledge that available COVID vaccines are safe and effective, and are vital for children, adults, and pregnant people, all of whom rely on CDC ACIP vaccine recommendations for access to vaccines and insurance coverage.
ACIP must continue to recommend widespread and unhindered access to a wide range of vaccines to protect people of all ages in the US.
ACIP must preserve a universal recommendation for COVID vaccines for people of all ages, including children and pregnant people, at least twice annually.
Long COVID is a result of a COVID infection and must be addressed by science-based experts with a commitment to developing effective treatments.
Include some brief personal comments about why vaccination is important and why it matters to you, such as how vaccination for a broad range of infectious diseases has positively protected you and/or your community. Optionally, at the beginning of your comment, you may also include information on professional or other credentials, and whether or not you have any financial conflicts of interest relevant to the topic. Feel free to take inspiration from or borrow the language in our sample public comment below.
Submitted written public comments for the meeting must be received by the CDC via Regulations.gov no later than March 12, 2026 at 11:59 pm Eastern Daylight Time for the committee’s consideration.
Step-By-Step Submission Instructions:
Step 1. Go to Regulations.gov to submit your comment and search for Docket CDC-2026-0199.
Step 2. Type your comment under the field, “Comment.” (Note: there is a 5000 character limit. If you would like to write more, upload your comment as a PDF document.)
Step 3 (optional). Submit a PDF or Word version of your comment, or scientific articles or other evidence, under “Attach Files.”
Step 4. What is your comment about? Select Federal Government
Step 5. Select either “Individual” or “Anonymous” depending on whether you want to share your personal information that will be publicly available on the Federal Register.
Step 6. If selecting “Individual,” provide your first and last name at minimum. If you select “Anonymous,” directly submit a comment without sharing your personal information.
Step 7. Click “Submit Comment.”
Sample comment (please personalize)
Docket: CDC-2026-0199
Public Comment for March 18 to 19 CDC ACIP Committee Meeting
To Members of the CDC ACIP committee:
I have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
I am a [FOR EXAMPLE: physician/patient/epidemiologist/nurse/concerned American/person with disabilities] deeply worried about recent harmful and unwarranted changes on vaccine policy at the CDC and the future prevention and treatment of Long COVID as a health condition. This is a vital issue to me because of the following below.
Today, I am writing to express grave concerns of the future of COVID vaccines and Long COVID.
Current vaccination rates for many infectious diseases are very low, and many US communities are directly affected by outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, pertussis, and COVID. Many of these infections can cause serious and potentially lifelong consequences to people’s health. Children in 2026 should not die or become disabled from infectious diseases because they lack access to affordable and effective vaccines. Long COVID also continues to affect millions of Americans caused by a COVID infection. It continues to be debilitating condition that affects people’s health.
RFK Jr., Marty Makary, and Vinay Prasad have previously imposed new policies that limit access to COVID vaccinations. Creating such barriers is reckless and will without doubt harm the public’s health. Updated COVID vaccines must remain universally accessible and widely available at no cost to everyone. The scientific evidence is irrefutable, so it not only endangers Americans’ health but also is a waste of precious resources and time to require additional efficacy studies, which would only serve to sow doubt in vaccines. Receiving a COVID vaccine within the last year reduces the risk of symptoms, severe disease, disability, and death for people of all ages, including previously healthy people. Restrictive policies create barriers to universal access to COVID vaccines, and are especially essential for children, pregnant people, older adults, and adults with underlying health conditions especially under the age of 65. These restrictions also create immense confusion among the public on the usefulness of COVID vaccines.
Long COVID is a severe health condition caused by a COVID infection. Long COVID is a debilitating condition that affects millions of Americans. The ongoing spread of COVID infections will continue to drive an increase in the number of people who develop this serious condition. We need science-based experts to provide oversight on the prevention and treatment of Long COVID. It is very important to develop effective treatments to address this condition.
I urge you to take action, follow the evidence, and reinstate universal COVID vaccination recommendations for people of all ages, authorizing them twice a year (due to their rapid waning), for all COVID vaccine formulations. I urge you to ensure science-based experts oversee the future direction of addressing Long COVID either by preventing it or developing effective treatments. I ask this ACIP committee to vote for policies advancing universal access to vaccines and the prevention of Long COVID as well as to ensure that decisions are considered, evaluated, and concluded using open and transparent processes, all of which are hallmarks of democracy.
Thank you for your consideration.
Full instructions for written and oral comment and meeting information can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/acip/meetings/index.html
CDC ACIP Meeting Information at the Federal Register: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/02/26/2026-03877/meeting-of-the-advisory-committee-on-immunization-practices
Submitted written comments or registration to make oral comment at the meeting must be received by the CDC no later than March 12, 2026 at 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time.
We appreciate your continued voices and advocacy for the health of all of us.
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