The National Vaccine Plan (see http://www.hhs.gov/nvpo/vacc_plan/) was developed by the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Defense, and Veterans Affairs, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, and was coordinated by the National Vaccine Program Office (NVPO). Public engagement activities are an important part of Plan development and revision. Comments and input from members of the general public; citizen groups; parents; physicians, nurses and other health care providers; public health practitioners; academics; and policy makers will contribute to the draft strategic National Vaccine Plan. The National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC), a Federal advisory committee to HHS, also solicited broad public input for the draft strategic Plan.
The NVPO and NVAC sought public comment on the draft strategic National Vaccine Plan as an integral part of their review process. You can view the Federal Register notice (PDF - 60KB) that solicited comments from the public. The comments sought include people's insight and concerns about the U.S. vaccine and immunization enterprise; their values - why some concerns may be more important than others; specific suggestions on the draft Plan; and other information, including personal stories. The deadline for comments was extended through March 31, 2009. (View the extension notice in the Federal Register (PDF-44 KB).) All public comments received are posted with the draft strategic National Vaccine Plan.
Public and Stakeholder Input
Approaches utilized for public and stakeholder input include:
Written comments - submitted by interested individuals and organizations
Institute of Medicine expert panel convened to engage stakeholders and review priorities
Three all-day dialogues that included a cross-section of the general public from different communities
A February 6, 2009 meeting of the NVAC with stakeholders
How will HHS use the public and stakeholder input?
NVPO is reviewing the draft strategic National Vaccine Plan and comments to provide recommendations to strengthen the content and establish priorities for the plan. Public and stakeholder input is important to the development of recommendations for Plan revision.
Who is planning the public and stakeholder engagement activities?
Planning for the stakeholder engagement meeting was coordinated by a steering committee, which included NVAC members and representatives from HHS. HHS representatives and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) developed three public engagement meetings to solicit public input on the National Vaccine Plan. ORISE (http://orise.orau.gov/) is a U.S. Department of Energy institute focusing on scientific initiatives to research health risks from occupational hazards, assess environmental cleanup, respond to radiation medical emergencies, support national security and emergency preparedness, and educate the next generation of scientists.
Institute of Medicine Review
HHS also directed the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine (IOM) to empanel an expert committee to assist in gathering stakeholder input. The committee reviewed the 1994 National Vaccine Plan and provided guidance on the development of the draft strategic Plan (see http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3793/55143.aspx). The IOM committee also held a series of national meetings focused around each of the goals during which perspectives from many of the stakeholders were obtained (see http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3793/51325.aspx). The IOM committee will prepare a report that includes conclusions from the meetings and recommendations about priority actions within major components of the Plan.
Community dialogues
Public engagement meetings took place in St. Louis, Missouri on March 14, 2009; Columbus, Ohio on March 28, 2009; and Syracuse, New York on April 4, 2009. These locations were chosen in order to hear from people in different parts of the country and who may have different perspectives on vaccine and immunization issues. The meetings included roughly 250 community members in total. Participants were sought through outreach from a variety of community networks, including health care providers, school-based and home-school-based organizations, alternative medicine providers, and the local media. Public meetings lasted a full day and included educational presentations, small group deliberations, and full group discussions. The primary objective was to identify participants' values and concerns, which contributed to prioritization of scientific activities in the draft strategic National Vaccine Plan.
Watch a video summary of the public meeting in Syracuse, NY.
NVAC stakeholder engagement - an open meeting
NVAC met in Washington, DC, on February 6, 2009, to hear the results of the public comment received by January 30, and met with stakeholders in person and by teleconference to discuss four questions raised in the view the Federal Register notice (PDF - 60KB) soliciting comments about the draft Plan. This information assisted their deliberations and recommendations on the draft Plan. The meeting was open to the public and offered significant opportunity for public comment. Summaries of the February 6, 2009, breakout sessions and lists of participants are available on the draft National Vaccine Plan page.
HHS commitment to conversation
HHS is committed to obtaining broad public input on vaccines and the immunization enterprise. Since 2000, HHS has sponsored public and stakeholder engagement on vaccine safety, pandemic influenza - the latter including consideration of priorities for vaccination, community strategies, and protecting vulnerable populations. HHS will seek further opportunities to build trust and transparency in vaccination program policy through additional public outreach.
Download Reader 
