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This issue brief gives an overview of the main systems used by the federal government to track vaccine safety and adverse events following vaccinations. The brief reviews the history of federal vaccine safety systems, describes the key systems and their strengths and limitations, and also discusses how vaccine safety issues have become the subject of more scrutiny under the Trump administration.

This brief describes four key federal vaccine advisory committees and discusses policy issues and questions they currently face. The four committees are the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); and the Advisory Commission on Childhood…