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Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110

§300aa–27 Mandate for Safer Childhood Vaccines

Title 42 › CHAPTER 6A — PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE › SUBCHAPTER XIX — VACCINES › Part 2 — National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program › subpart c — assuring a safer childhood vaccination program in united states › § 300aa–27

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must work to make childhood vaccines safer than the vaccines that were on the market on December 22, 1987. The Secretary must promote new and improved vaccines and use the Secretary’s powers over licensing, production, testing, labeling and warnings, distribution and storage, giving vaccines, field monitoring, reporting side effects, recalling bad batches, and vaccine research to lower the chance of harmful reactions. The Secretary must set up a task force with the NIH Director, the FDA Commissioner, and the CDC Director, chaired by the NIH Director, and have it, with the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines, give recommendations on how to do this. Within 2 years after December 22, 1987, and regularly after that, the Secretary must send a report to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources describing the actions taken during the prior 2-year period.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §300aa–27

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)General rule
In the administration of this part and other pertinent laws under the jurisdiction of the Secretary, the Secretary shall—
(1)promote the development of childhood vaccines that result in fewer and less serious adverse reactions than those vaccines on the market on December 22, 1987, and promote the refinement of such vaccines, and
(2)make or assure improvements in, and otherwise use the authorities of the Secretary with respect to, the licensing, manufacturing, processing, testing, labeling, warning, use instructions, distribution, storage, administration, field surveillance, adverse reaction reporting, and recall of reactogenic lots or batches, of vaccines, and research on vaccines, in order to reduce the risks of adverse reactions to vaccines.
(b)Task force
(1)The Secretary shall establish a task force on safer childhood vaccines which shall consist of the Director of the National Institutes of Health, the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control.
(2)The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall serve as chairman of the task force.
(3)In consultation with the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines, the task force shall prepare recommendations to the Secretary concerning implementation of the requirements of subsection (a).
(c)Report
Within 2 years after December 22, 1987, and periodically thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare and transmit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate a report describing the actions taken pursuant to subsection (a) during the preceding 2-year period.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification In subsecs. (a)(1), (c), “December 22, 1987” substituted for “the

Effective Date

of this subpart” on authority of section 323 of Pub. L. 99–660, as amended, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 300aa–1 of this title.

Amendments

1989—Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 101–239 added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsec. (b) as (c). 1987—Subsecs. (a)(1), (b). Pub. L. 100–203 substituted “

Effective Date

of this subpart” for “

Effective Date

of this part”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Committee on Labor and Human Resources of Senate changed to Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of Senate by Senate Resolution No. 20, One Hundred Sixth Congress, Jan. 19, 1999. Committee on Energy and Commerce of House of Representatives treated as referring to Committee on Commerce of House of Representatives by section 1(a) of Pub. L. 104–14, set out as a note preceding section 21 of Title 2, The Congress. Committee on Commerce of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Energy and Commerce of House of Representatives, and jurisdiction over matters relating to securities and exchanges and insurance generally transferred to Committee on Financial Services of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Seventh Congress, Jan. 3, 2001. Centers for Disease Control changed to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by Pub. L. 102–531, title III, § 312, Oct. 27, 1992, 106 Stat. 3504.

Effective Date

of 1989 AmendmentFor applicability of

Amendments

by Pub. L. 101–239 to petitions filed after Dec. 19, 1989, petitions currently pending in which the evidentiary record is closed, and petitions currently pending in which the evidentiary record is not closed, with provision for an immediate suspension for 30 days of all pending cases, see section 6601(s)(1) of Pub. L. 101–239, set out as a note under section 300aa–10 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 300aa–27

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110