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June 25, 2019<\/p>\n
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Media contact: National Consumers League \u2013 Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242\u00a0or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202)\u00a0207-2832<\/span><\/p>\n Washington, DC\u2014<\/span>The National Consumers League (NCL) will present testimony at the Centers for Disease Control\u2019s (CDC) vaccine committee on June 26\u00a0in support of keeping an important vaccine to prevent pneumococcus disease on the schedule of recommended vaccines.<\/p>\n The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is revisiting their 2014 recommendation for the pneumococcal vaccine. NCL\u2019s Executive Director Sally Greenberg will present testimony before the committee of vaccine experts in the defense of maintaining the current recommendation of keeping the vaccine, Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 13 (PCV13), on the schedule for adults. NCL also recently joined a letter to ACIP with other health advocates<\/a> urging the committee not changing the existing recommendation for coverage of the pneumococcal vaccine.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c\u2026[n]early one million adult cases of pneumococcal disease are reported in the U.S. each year, resulting in 400,000 hospitalizations. Five to seven percent of those hospitalized will die, and a large percentage of them will be seniors\u2026..Saving these costs is entirely feasible given that we have a safe and effective vaccine to prevent the pneumococcal illness.\u201d<\/p>\n NCL has a long history of supporting childhood and adult vaccines as enormously safe and effective in reducing illness and death. NCL has sounded alarms about the outbreak of measles across the country, with 1,044 cases this year in the U.S.\u2013 the largest since 1992. NCL points out that communities of color and other lower-income Americans are particularly benefitted by keeping important lifesaving vaccines on the schedule.<\/p>\n The group letter noted, \u201cWe also recognize that many Americans, especially seniors, will not be able to afford vaccination if it is not provided by Medicare. Cutting back or eliminating Medicare coverage will affect older adults, especially in underserved populations that already see lower rates of vaccination.\u201d<\/p>\n NCL strongly encourages the committee to maintain coverage for the pneumococcal vaccines to prevent disease and save lives.<\/p>\n