Projects will examine avenues to protect lives by improving government vaccine policy processes and governance and strengthening public trust in immunization.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Vaccine Integrity Project at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) and The Evidence Collective (TEC) today announced complementary initiatives designed to improve US vaccine policymaking and strengthen public trust in vaccines.
The Vaccine Integrity Project effort will examine how the federal government can improve the development and implementation of independent vaccine safety and effectiveness evaluations and immunization recommendations. The Evidence Collective’s work will examine broader vaccine governance systems and trust infrastructure that surround those recommendations. Together, these efforts can help inform a stronger vaccine policymaking process in the future that results in wider vaccine uptake that protects more Americans from preventable diseases.
The goal is to produce options that leaders of future US health departments and agencies can evaluate and adopt.
The efforts come at a pivotal moment for the nation's immunization infrastructure. Over the past year and a half, the federal vaccine policy landscape has undergone significant change, including the dismissal and replacement of members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), and changes to the federal childhood immunization schedule that a federal court later invalidated (along with the actions impacting ACIP). As of today, the Committee does not exist, and a recent White House Executive Order suggests the current administration prefers to diminish ACIP’s role moving forward, along with the independence of US vaccine policymaking.
Established in 1964, the ACIP has been widely regarded as one of the world's leading national immunization technical advisory groups, helping establish international standards for transparent, evidence-based vaccine recommendation processes. However, critics have also suggested that it fails to listen to dissenting voices early enough in the decision-making process, among other critiques. Recent developments provide an opportunity to build on ACIP’s strengths and examine how the vaccine evaluation and recommendations process could be enhanced to improve implementation and confidence in recommendations.
"Regardless of one's views on recent policy decisions, it has become clear that the United States needs a serious, forward-looking conversation about the future of vaccine policy and governance," said Dr. David Higgins, project lead for The Evidence Collective. "The goal should not be to simply recreate the past. It should be to identify approaches that strengthen scientific independence, transparency, public trust, and resilience so that vaccine policy can effectively serve the American people for decades to come."
The Vaccine Integrity Project and The Evidence Collective will pursue distinct but complementary efforts:
The Vaccine Integrity Project initiative will focus specifically on the federal vaccine evaluation and recommendation process, zeroing in on the role historically played by ACIP and CDC. Through stakeholder engagement sessions, public input and comparative analysis of advisory committee models, the project will explore options for strengthening scientific independence, transparency, conflict-of-interest protections, emergency response capabilities, and continuity across administrations.
The effort will engage former ACIP members, former CDC staff, public health officials, medical societies, ethicists, health communication experts, patient representatives, insurers, manufacturers, and other stakeholders.
The Vaccine Integrity Project will compile policy and process options and outstanding questions from its engagement efforts in a public report in late 2026.
The Evidence Collective's Rebuilding Vaccine Governance project will examine the broader ecosystem of vaccine governance, including how vaccine guidance is developed, regulated, communicated, and implemented, and how public trust can be strengthened in an era of political polarization and fragmented information environments.
The project will combine original research – focus groups and surveys – and extensive community engagement, such as community listening sessions, involving clinicians, scientists, policymakers, business leaders, community organizations, parents, and members of the public with a wide range of perspectives on vaccines and public health.
"Trust cannot simply be restored through institutional decisions alone," said Elisabeth Marnik, PhD, executive director of The Evidence Collective. "People want to understand how decisions are made, how evidence is evaluated, and how their perspectives are incorporated into the process. Our project is designed to bring a broad range of voices into that conversation and explore what durable vaccine governance could look like in the years ahead."
The Vaccine Integrity Project will provide The Evidence Collective with real-time readouts of its facilitated discussions to help inform the group’s project.
"The questions facing vaccine recommendations today are larger than any single administration or any single committee," said Dr. Michael Osterholm, PhD, director of CIDRAP and founder of the Vaccine Integrity Project. "More than 60 years after ACIP was established, this is an opportunity to assess how an independent scientific advisory process can best serve the country in an increasingly complex scientific, technological, and political environment."
Both organizations emphasize that durable vaccine policy requires scientific rigor, transparency, public engagement, and institutional structures capable of maintaining credibility across political transitions.
Additional information about both initiatives, including opportunities for public participation, will be announced in the coming weeks.
About the Vaccine Integrity Project
The Vaccine Integrity Project is an initiative dedicated to providing independent, trusted, science-based information for informed vaccine choices.
About The Evidence Collective
The Evidence Collective is a group of trusted health communicators dedicated to translating scientific evidence, fostering public engagement, and strengthening trust through accessible communication, training, and community-centered dialogue.