Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines, 2020-21

Summary

This report updates the 2019–20 recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) regarding the use of seasonal influenza vaccines in the United States (MMWR Recomm Rep 2019;68[No. RR-3]).

Routine annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all persons aged ≥6 months who do not have contraindications. A licensed, recommended, and age-appropriate vaccine should be used. Inactivated influenza vaccines (IIVs), recombinant influenza vaccine (RIV), and live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) are expected to be available for the 2020–21 season. Standard-dose, unadjuvanted, inactivated influenza (IIV4s), High-dose (HD-IIV4), and adjuvanted (aIIV4) vaccines will be available in quadrivalent formulations. Adjuvanted inactivated influenza vaccine will also be available in a trivalent formulation (aIIV3) . Recombinant (RIV4), cell-culture based (ccIIV4), and live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV4) will be available in quadrivalent formulations.

Updates to the recommendations described in this report reflect discussions during public meetings of ACIP held on October 23, 2019; February 26, 2020; and June 24, 2020.

Primary updates in this report include the following two items.

• First,
  • The egg-based H1N1 vaccine component was updated from an A/Brisbane/02/2018 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus to an A/Guangdong-Maonan/SWL1536/2019 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus.
  • The cell- or recombinant-based H1N1 vaccine component was updated from an A/Brisbane/02/2018 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus to an A/Hawaii/70/2019 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus.
  • The egg-based H3N2 vaccine component was updated from an A/Kansas/14/2017 (H3N2)-like virus to an A/Hong Kong/2671/2019 (H3N2)-like virus.
  • The cell- or recombinant-based H3N2 vaccine component was updated from an A/Kansas/14/2017 (H3N2)-like virus to an A/Hong Kong/45/2019 (H3N2)-like virus.
  • The B/Victoria lineage vaccine component was updated from a B/Colorado/06/2017 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus to a B/Washington/02/2019 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus.
• Second, high-dose vaccine and adjuvanted vaccine will be available in quadrivalent formulations (HD-IIV4 and aIIV4) this year. High-dose vaccine will not be available in trivalent formulation.

This report focuses on the recommendations for use of vaccines for the prevention and control of influenza during the 2020–21 season in the United States.

A Background Document containing further information and a brief summary of these recommendations is available: Influenza ACIP Vaccine Recommendations.

See Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — United States, 2020–21 Influenza Season for the full recommendations.