[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 121 (Monday, June 24, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37817-37818]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-14996]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Meeting of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee

AGENCY: National Vaccine Program Office, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary for Health, Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and 
Human Services.

ACTION: Notice of a teleconference meeting.

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SUMMARY: As stipulated by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is hereby giving notice 
that the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) will be holding a 
special meeting. This meeting will be held utilizing a means of virtual 
technology; the meeting will be conducted as an audio telephone 
conference call. The meeting will be open to the public. Individuals 
may call in to attend this virtual meeting. A public comment session 
will be provided. Participation in this meeting is limited to 60 
people. Therefore, pre-registration is required for both public 
participation and comment. Individuals who wish to participate in the 
meeting by audio telephone conference call and/or provide public 
comment should pre-register by sending an email to [email protected] or 
calling (202) 690-5566. Individuals will be required to provide their 
name, organization, and email address to pre-register. The meeting 
agenda will be posted on the NVAC Web site at http://www.hhs.gov/nvpo/nvac as soon as it becomes available.

DATES: The meeting will be held on Friday, June 21, 2013, from 11:00 
a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EDT. This meeting will be conducted utilizing a 
means of virtual technology only.

ADDRESSES: This meeting will be conducted only by audio conference 
call.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: National Vaccine Program Office, 
Department of Health and Human Services, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 
200 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20201. Telephone: (202) 
690-5566; Fax: (202) 690-4631; Email address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 2102 of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300aa-1), the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services was mandated to establish the National Vaccine Program 
(NVP) to achieve optimal prevention of human infectious diseases 
through immunization and to achieve optimal prevention against adverse 
reactions to vaccines. NVAC was established to provide advice and make 
recommendations to the Director of NVP on matters related to the 
program's responsibilities. The Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) 
serves as Director of the NVP.
    NVAC met on June 11-13, 2013. The Committee's discussion included 
its intent to deliberate and vote on advice to be given to the ASH on 
the proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 
(CMS) to remove the Immunization for Pneumonia Measure (IMM-1) from the 
Inpatient Quality Reporting Program. The comment period for the 
proposed rule ends on June 25, 2013. NVAC is not scheduled to meet 
again before the end of the comment period for the proposed rule. 
Therefore, it has been decided that a special meeting should be 
convened for the NVAC to develop and discuss recommendations to be 
submitted to the ASH on the proposed rule. The proposed rule is printed 
in the Federal Register, Vol. 78. No. 91, Friday, May 10, 2013, pp. 
27486-27823. It is also available at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/05/10/2013-10234/medicare-program-hospital-inpatient-prospective-payment-systems-for-acute-care-hospitals-and-the:

[[Page 37818]]

    Audio participation in this meeting is available to the public. The 
following information is provided for individuals who wish to 
participate in this meeting by telephone: Toll free number for calls 
originating in the United States: 1-888-677-1385; Toll free number for 
calls originating outside the United States: 1-312-470-7133; the 
passcode for all originating calls is 8094285.
    Please note that this special meeting is being held only to provide 
opportunity for the NVAC to provide recommendations to the ASH on 
comments to be given to CMS on the proposed rule. A decision was made 
at the meeting most recently held by NVAC on June 11-12, 2013, that the 
Committee should make recommendations to the ASH on the proposed rule. 
Comments on the proposed rule are due to be submitted to CMS no later 
than June 25, 2013. The number of days between the recent NVAC meeting 
and the due date for the comments to CMS is less than 15 days. 
Therefore, notice to the public about the NVAC being convened for this 
specific purpose could not be published in the Federal Register, as 
required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 15 days prior to the 
date the special meeting is scheduled to be held.

    Dated: June 19, 2013.
Bruce Gellin,
Director, National Vaccine Program Office, and Executive Secretary, 
National Vaccine Advisory Committee.
[FR Doc. 2013-14996 Filed 6-21-13; 8:45 am]
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