With the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) no longer functioning as before, professional medical societies have begun issuing their own vaccine recommendations. In a recent interview, Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH—former NIAID director and now leader of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)—explained that the societies coordinated quickly to produce respiratory season guidance published in JAMA. She called the effort a stopgap, not a permanent replacement, and noted that the usual behind-the-scenes review of proprietary industry data now has no clear home.
Marrazzo was blunt about the federal response to measles outbreaks, saying it was not being handled at all. She described the situation as 'shameful,' though she did not elaborate on specific failures. The interview also touched on broader disruptions at NIAID, including shifts in research priorities and the loss of qualified ACIP members, which she said raises concerns about the pipeline of infectious disease specialists.
The source is a single interview transcript, so there are no conflicting accounts. Marrazzo's remarks reflect her personal views as both a former federal official and current society leader, and she emphasized that the current arrangements are temporary measures to 'plug the leaks' in a system that previously worked well. Whether these parallel systems persist or evolve remains an open question, she said.