HHS Seeks Comment on Federal Vaccine Recommendation Categories; Four Other Federal Register Actions

HHS Request for Information on Vaccine Recommendation Categories

The Department of Health and Human Services, acting in support of the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines and in furtherance of the Executive Order of August 10, 2026, "Delivering Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations for Americans," has published a Request for Information seeking public comment on the adequacy of the categories currently used in federal vaccine recommendations. Comments must be received no later than September 20, 2026.

The document describes three principal existing categories. A routine (universal) recommendation sets vaccination of all persons in an age group as the default, absent contraindications. A risk-based recommendation is directed to persons with specified medical, occupational, behavioral, or other risk factors. A recommendation based on shared clinical decision-making (SCDM) — also referred to since 2025 as individual-based decision-making — is individually based and informed by a decision process between the health care provider and the patient or parent/guardian. The notice explains that for routine, catch-up, and risk-based recommendations "the default decision should be to vaccinate," whereas for SCDM recommendations "there is no default"; the decision turns on the individual's characteristics, the best available scientific evidence, the clinical discretion of the provider, and the values and preferences of the patient or parent.

The notice provides background on the current framework: ACIP adopted the SCDM terminology in 2019, replacing the earlier "Category A"/"Category B" (permissive) framework, and applies it through an Evidence to Recommendations (EtR) framework adopted in 2018. That EtR framework contemplates three outcomes — a recommendation for all persons in an age or risk group; a recommendation for individuals based on shared clinical decision-making; or no recommendation — and directs consideration of public health importance, the magnitude and balance of benefits and harms, the certainty of evidence as assessed under the GRADE approach, the values and preferences of the affected population, acceptability to stakeholders, feasibility, and resource use.

HHS frames its RFI around several specific areas of inquiry: whether the existing categories are adequate; whether additional or different categories should be adopted; the considerations that should guide vaccine recommendations, including the availability and strength of scientific evidence; the appropriate approach when randomized controlled trial evidence is limited or absent; a presumption in favor of individual autonomy and religious freedom; the downstream legal and programmatic consequences of category assignment; and the communication practices necessary to earn and maintain public trust.

IRS: Taxpayer Advocacy Panel Joint Committee Meeting

The Internal Revenue Service has published notice of an open meeting of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel's Joint Committee, to be held on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The meeting will be conducted as a virtual video conference via the Microsoft Teams platform. The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel is soliciting public comments, ideas, and suggestions to improve customer service at the IRS.

The public is invited to attend virtually or by phone and may provide oral comments or submit written statements for consideration. Due to meeting structure and time limitations, advance registration is required to attend or make public comments. The notice instructs interested parties to contact Fred N. Smith, Jr. no later than Friday, September 11, 2026, to register and receive meeting access information. Meeting materials, including the agenda and any handouts, will be made available prior to the meeting at www.improveirs.org. The agenda will include a committee discussion of new and continuing issues and other activities related to the new TAP year.

Corrections: IRS, EPA, and Commerce

Three additional records published August 24, 2026 are technical corrections to earlier documents.

The IRS published a correction to a proposed rule on Employer Contributions to Trump Accounts and Nondiscrimination Rules for Dependent Care Assistance Programs (affecting 26 CFR Part 1), which had originally appeared on August 11, 2026. The correction fixes three errors: the 21st line on page 51612 should read "September 25, 2026. Public Hearing: The"; a graphic on page 51622 should appear as specified; and the first three lines of § 1.128-1 on page 51625 should read "Trump account contribution program; definitions."

The Environmental Protection Agency published a correction to a proposed rule responding to a Clean Air Act Section 176A petition from New Hampshire (affecting 40 CFR Part 81), also originally published August 11, 2026. Two dates in the original document are corrected: "August 18, 2026" on page 51644 (first column, last two lines) should read "August 23, 2026," and "August 8, 2026" (second column, 24th line from the bottom) should read "August 18, 2026."

The Commerce Department's International Trade Administration published a correction to a March 9, 2026 notice on the Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews. The correction notes that the last row of a table on page 11286 was inadvertently omitted and should read "Longi Technology SDN."

What to Watch

• September 11, 2026: Deadline to register with Fred N. Smith, Jr. to attend or comment at the TAP Joint Committee virtual meeting.
• September 16, 2026: TAP Joint Committee open meeting, 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, via Microsoft Teams.
• September 20, 2026: Deadline for comments to HHS on the RFI regarding federal vaccine recommendation categories.
• September 25, 2026: Public hearing date (as corrected) for the IRS proposed rule on Employer Contributions to Trump Accounts and Nondiscrimination Rules for Dependent Care Assistance Programs.

Related

• Civic AI hub
• Five Federal Agencies Seek Public Comment on Information Collection Renewals Across Agriculture, Environment, and Marine Science
• NCUA Bans Reputation Risk in Supervision; FDA Files Flour Irradiation Petition
• Education Dept. Extends Funding for 43 American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Projects Through Sept. 2027