PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 22 – The American College of Physicians (ACP) supports the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the use of the COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna, Inc. to be used in persons 18 and older in the U.S. under the Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Authorization. ACP previously announced its support for the ACIP recommendations to the CDC for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
ACP continues to strongly encourage physicians, other health care professionals and patients to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Physicians and health care personnel will be receiving COVID-19 vaccines as part of the initial vaccine allocation, which will enable them to fulfill their ethical responsibility to limit risk to patients by taking appropriate infection control precautions. ACP also continues to call for the ongoing evaluation of vaccine effectiveness as well as safety monitoring.
ACP also urges everyone to continue use of other preventive measures to reduce virus transmission, including wearing masks, practicing physical distancing, frequent hand hygiene with soap and water or alcohol-based sanitizer, covering coughs and sneezes using a bent elbow or paper tissue, and following other preventive hygiene protocols.
“The approval of additional vaccines is critical in helping our frontline health care workers treat and care for patients and for those workers to remain healthy and continue carrying out their essential roles,” said Jacqueline W. Fincher, MD, MACP, President, ACP. “Every additional tool in this crisis will help ease the burden on health care systems and physician practices as we all work to get through this challenging winter. While vaccines are truly a bright light at the end of this very dark pandemic tunnel, it is still critically important for everyone to continue wearing masks, washing their hands, and keeping their distance to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Everyone who is recommended to get the COVID-19 vaccine should be strongly encouraged to get theirs as soon as it is available to them.”
About the American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 163,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Contact: Andrew Hachadorian, (215) 351-2514, AHachadorian@acponline.org