Kennedy's new vaccine panel alarms pediatricians with inquiries into long-settled questions
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr's new vaccine advisers have alarmed paediatricians after announcing inquiries into some long-settled questions about children's shots. Opening the first meeting of Kennedy's handpicked seven-member panel, committee chairman Martin Kulldorff said he was appointing a work group to evaluate the "cumulative effect" of the children's vaccine schedule — the list of immunisations given at different times throughout childhood. Also to be evaluated, he said, was how two other shots were administered — one that guards against liver-destroying hepatitis B and another that combines chickenpox protection with MMR, the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new vaccine advisers alarmed pediatricians Wednesday by announcing inquiries into some long-settled questions about children's shots. (AP) It was an early sign of how the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices is being reshaped by Kennedy, a leading anti-vaccine activist before becoming the nation's top health official. He fired the entire 17-member panel this month and replaced it with a group that includes several anti-vaccine voices. "Vaccines are not all good or bad," Kulldorff said. "We are learning more about vaccines over time" and must "keep up to date." His announcement reflected a common message of vaccine skeptics: that too many shots may overwhelm kids' immune systems or that the ingredients may build up to cause harm. Scientists say those claims have been repeatedly investigated with no signs of concern. Dr. Martin Kulldorf speaks during a meeting of the Advisory Committee in Immunization Practices at the CDC. (AP) Kids today are exposed to fewer antigens — immune-revving components — than their grandparents despite getting more doses, because of improved vaccine technology, said Dr Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The American Academy of Paediatrics announced that it would continue publishing its own vaccine schedule for children but now would do so independently of the ACIP, calling it "no longer a credible process". "The narrative that current vaccine policies are flawed and need 'fixing' is a distortion," said the AAP's Dr Sean O'Leary. "These policies have saved trillions of dollars and millions of lives." The ACIP, created more than 60 years ago, helps the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention determine who should be vaccinated against a long list of diseases, and when. Those recommendations have a big impact on whether insurance covers vaccinations and where they're available, such as at pharmacies. Participants listen during a meeting of the Advisory Committee in Immunization Practices at the CDC. (AP) After Kennedy's abrupt dismissal of the existing expert panel, a number of the CDC's top vaccine scientists — including some who lead the reporting of data and the vetting of presentations at ACIP meetings — have resigned or been moved out of previous positions. And shortly before Wednesday's meeting, a Virginia-based obstetrician and gynecologist appointed to the committee stepped down. According to the Trump administration, he withdrew during a customary review of members' financial holdings. First on the committee's agenda were COVID-19 vaccinations. Kennedy already sidestepped the panel and announced the vaccine would no longer be recommended for healthy children or pregnant women. Yet CDC scientists told the panel that vaccination was "the best protection" during pregnancy, and said most children hospitalised for COVID-19 over the past year were unvaccinated. COVID-19 remains a public health threat, resulting in 32,000 to 51,000 US deaths and more than 250,000 hospitalisations since last fall, according to the CDC. Kennedy already sidestepped the panel and announced the vaccine will no longer be recommended for healthy children or pregnant women. (Getty images) Most at risk for hospitalisation are seniors and children under two — especially infants under 6 months who could have some protection if their mother got vaccinated during pregnancy, according to the CDC's presentation. The new advisers weren't asked to vote on Kennedy's recommendations, which raise uncertainty about how easily people will be able to access COVID-19 vaccinations this fall. After CDC staff outlined multiple overlapping systems that continue to track the vaccines' safety, several advisers questioned if the real-world data really is trustworthy. Next, the committee took up RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, a common cause of cold-like symptoms that can be dangerous for infants. In 2023, US health officials began recommending two new measures to protect infants — a lab-made antibody for newborns and a vaccine for pregnant women — that experts say likely drove an improvement in infant mortality. The committee will discuss another company's newly approved antibody shot and vote on updated recommendations. The committee will discuss another company's newly approved antibody shot and vote on updated recommendations. (AP) At its June meetings, the committee usually refreshes guidance for Americans 6 months and older to get a flu shot, and helps green light the annual fall vaccination campaign. But a vote set for Thursday that also promises controversy. The panel is set to consider a preservative in a subset of flu shots that Kennedy and some antivaccine groups have falsely contended is tied to autism. In preparation, the CDC posted a new report confirming that research shows no link between the preservative, thimerosal, and autism or any other neurodevelopmental disorders. CONTACT US
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SBS Australia
2 days ago
- SBS Australia
Former CDC staffers ring alarm bells over decisions of new US vaccine panel
Every week for a number of weeks, current and former employees of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have been blowing whistles and banging drums at a street intersection near the group's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. They're protesting changes to the US Department of Health now led by Robert F Kennedy Jr, saying that he has brought his long history of vaccine scepticism into his role as the nation's top health official. Among the demonstrators is infectious diseases physician Peter Cegielski. "There have been rallies here every Tuesday maybe since March... The public needs to mobilise because, I mean, there's a clown show running this country and DHHS." The CDC protesters' appearance on the Atlanta corner this week was timed to coincide with the first meeting of the reconstituted US panel known as ACIP or the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices. Kennedy abruptly fired all 17 previous members earlier this month after accusing them without evidence of conflicts of interest, replacing them with seven handpicked others. Among them is new Committee chair Dr Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who publicly criticised COVID-19 lockdowns and was fired from Harvard for refusing to take a COVID vaccine. Dr Kulldorff was one of five members at the meeting to vote for a recommendation that people aged 6 months and older get a flu vaccination only using a single dose formula which is thimerosal-free. "Even if the amount available in the vaccine, maybe that amount is safe - but does not amount for exposed to be exposed to mercury from other sources. So it's cumulative and there is a need. And if we care about public health we should try to minimise exposure to mercury." The reason why that's important is because the panel's recommendations influence the official US immunisation schedule, determine insurance coverage for vaccines, and act as an encouragement for people to get vaccinated. Thimerosal is widely used in lower income countries because they are more likely to use lower cost multidose containers that must be punctured repeatedly, raising the risk of contamination which thimerosal helps to prevent. But the preservative has also been at the centre of controversies and myths about vaccines for decades, with Robert F Kennedy involved in some of that debate. In 2014, when Kennedy was an environmental lawyer, he appeared on Fox 5 New York to promote a book he had published called 'Thimerosal' that alleged evidence had been covered up showing it could cause brain problems, including autism. "You know I've had all six of my children vaccinated. I want to see everybody taking their vaccines. We need full coverage. People don't take them (vaccines) because they no longer believe in the CDC. They can see the science." The CDC says it conducted nine separate studies since 2003 that found no link between thimerosal-containing vaccines and ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder, and that multiple scientific studies have found no evidence of a link either. The CDC was not given an opportunity to present evidence before the committee's vote - but Lyn Redwood, the former president of what is now known as Children's Health Defense, an antivaccine group founded by Secretary Kennedy - did air her concerns about thimerosal. "Thimerosal is recognised as a developmental and reproductive toxicant, and is listed as a chemical in the California Proposition 65 list since 1990." Secretary Kennedy has maintained he has always just asked questions that are justifiable and necessary, arguing that the public's trust in vaccines has waned because those questions have not been answered satisfactorily. "We're living now in a time of upheaval, a time of popular revolt against established institutions that have lost the public trust - and that includes medicine. President Trump and I are committed to earning it back." But at least two CDC staff members have left over the changes, and major medical experts and former members of the panel have also expressed concern over its reconstitution. Georgia State Senator for District 42 Elena Parent says the panel is essentially embedding false information and vaccine scepticism into national policy. "This is the very body that has guided our nation's policies for vaccines for over 60 years. And by the way, this is what everyone said when they said 'do not confirm him'. Do not confirm him as the secretary of health. Anyone who knew anything about public health and vaccines said 'no'. These guy has peddled disinformation for years. And what did they do? Fell in line behind Trump and all the rest of them and put him in. And the worst fears are now coming true with this assault on the ACIP." The Secretary's views have also received a cool reception at a Brussels fundraising dinner for the GAVI global vaccine alliance, a group that facilitates immunisations in lower-income countries. In a video recording played to the gathering, Kennedy cast doubt on the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccines — which the World Health Organisation and other agencies have long deemed to be safe and effective. He also announced the US will be cutting its funding to GAVI, on the basis that they have allegedly silenced dissenting views and what he has described as legitimate questions about vaccine safety. "Consider the best science available even when the science contradicts established paradigms. Until that happens, the United States won't contribute more to GAVI." GAVI says that's ridiculous. Chairman of the Board Jose Manuel Barroso says the organisation has multiple safeguards and processes in place to prioritise the health and safety of children. "Gavi is indeed a unique organisation in global health with a public-private model that has brought together national governments, donors, vaccine manufacturers, scientific institutes and grassroot organisations to vaccinate more than 1 billion children in low income and middle income countries. And I have to say that Gavi has done it always following the best scientific advice." Doctors Without Borders is among the medical groups to say they believe countless children will die from vaccine-preventable diseases as a result of the U-S withdrawing support for Gavi. The charity's global health advocacy director, Mihir Mankad, has called it cruel and reckless to invoke misleading and inaccurate claims about vaccine safety as the pretext for cutting all global vaccine funding. But GAVI says it will be able to continue much of its work, and has plenty of other willing donors. Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said in a statement that Australia is sending $386 million over five years, while European Union President Ursula von der Leyen has also committed money. "Today I am pleased to pledge 360 million Euros to GAVI at this summit, and this is part of a total Team Europe pledge of 2 billion Euros or even more." Meanwhile, back in the US, some doctors are taking matters into their own hands. The influential American Academy of Paediatrics boycotted A-C-I-P's first meeting in protest, saying it will now publish its own vaccine schedule for children and do so independently of the vaccine panel, calling it 'no longer a credible process.' And the CDC demonstrators - which include former Division of Overdose Prevention public servant, Abby Tighe - say they will keep ringing their protest bells on that Atlanta corner for as long as they can. "Let's make it a non political conversation. We have to do the work to de-politicise public health. And I know it's hard and it sucks, but we have to do it because people's lives are at stake."
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
US Health Secretary Kennedy's vaccine panel backs preservative-free flu shot
US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr's vaccine advisory panel has recommended Americans receive seasonal influenza shots that are free from thimerosal. Thimerosal is only used in multi-dose vials of flu shots in the US during the 2024-25 flu season, despite decades of studies showing no related safety issues. Fewer than 5 per cent of the flu shots administered were from such vials, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Anti-vaccine groups have linked thimerosal to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders for decades. Mr Kennedy wrote a book in 2014 in which he advocated for "the immediate removal of mercury" from vaccines. In recent days, he has posted on X about its alleged dangers. On its website, the FDA said: "There was no evidence that thimerosal in vaccines was dangerous." The decision to remove it previously was a precautionary measure to decrease overall exposure to mercury among young infants, it added. Multi-dose forms of CSL's Afluria and Flucelvax as well as Sanofi's Fluzone use thimerosal as a preservative, according to the FDA's website. Paris-headquartered Sanofi said it would have sufficient supply of its flu vaccine to support customer preference for this season. CSL said it supplies a very low number of multi-dose vials of flu vaccine in response to demand. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff concluded in a report that evidence did not support an association between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders. The report was briefly published and then removed from the meeting's online document site. Panel member Dr Robert Malone said the directive to remove the staff report came from Mr Kennedy's office. The panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), voted 5-1 in three separate votes to recommend thimerosal-free shots. The now seven-person panel was installed by Mr Kennedy earlier this month after he fired all 17 previous ACIP outside experts. The panel advises the CDC on who should take specific vaccines and related products and when they should be given after FDA approval. It typically meets three times a year and intends to conduct its next meeting in the third quarter, the centres say. "The risk from influenza is so much greater than the nonexistent — as far as we know — risk from thimerosal," Dr Cody Meissner, the only panel member who voted against the recommendation, said in explaining his vote. Lyn Redwood, formerly of the Kennedy-founded anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense, gave the presentation on thimerosal, arguing that it was a neurotoxin. Ms Redwood's presentation posted on the CDC's website earlier this week initially included a reference to a study that does not exist. The report she presented to the committee was significantly shorter, removing a slide that made a reference to that study and another saying she did not have any conflicts of interest. "With the vote on thimerosal this afternoon, the new committee has turned the ACIP process into a farce," said former CDC vaccine adviser Dr Fiona Havers, who resigned last week over Mr Kennedy's changes to vaccine policy. She said it is unprecedented to have an outside speaker present and then move immediately to a vote. Evidence is usually compiled formally by the CDC and reviewed by a work group, Dr Havers said. She added that CDC experts did not present their data publicly to refute Ms Redwood. CBS and The New York Times have reported that the agency hired Dr Redwood to work in its vaccine safety office. On Thursday, the committee voted 5-2 to recommend use of Merck's MRK.N recently approved RSV antibody drug Enflonsia for infants eight months or younger whose mothers did not receive a preventive shot during pregnancy. ACIP panel member Retsef Levi raised safety concerns about the antibody drug, which were addressed by experts at the FDA and CDC. He said he would be concerned about giving the product to one of his healthy children and was one of the two votes against the recommendation. The panel's recommendations need to be adopted by either the CDC director or the Health and Human Services Secretary before becoming final. There is currently no CDC director. US President Donald Trump's nominee for the post, Susan Monarez, spoke to a Senate committee yesterday as part of the confirmation process. ABC/Reuters
The Advertiser
4 days ago
- The Advertiser
US vaccine panel eyes childhood immunisations
The vaccine advisory panel reconstituted by US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said it would study the schedule of childhood and adolescent immunisations and review the use of older vaccines. Kennedy, who has a long history of sowing doubt about vaccine safety, this month fired all 17 members of a Centres for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory panel and replaced them with his own picks. At least two CDC staff members left over the changes. Major medical experts and former members of the panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices, have expressed concern over its reconstitution. The influential American Academy of Pediatrics, boycotted the panel's first meeting in protest, saying it would publish its own evidence-based childhood vaccine schedule. More than half of the remaining seven members have advocated against vaccines. The outcome of the meeting is critical, as the panel's recommendations influence the official US immunisation schedule, determine insurance coverage for vaccines and guide procurement for the CDC's Vaccines for Children program. Committee chair Dr. Martin Kulldorff - a biostatistician and epidemiologist who publicly criticised COVID-19 lockdowns and was fired from Harvard for refusing to take a COVID-19 vaccine - said the panel will review the total number of vaccines US children and adolescents receive, which he said exceeds those given to children in other developed nations. The group will also evaluate individual vaccines as well as the cumulative effect of the recommended vaccine schedule. Kulldorff also said the panel would study the use of a combined measles-mumps-rubella-varicella shot as well as research on the optimal timing of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine "to resolve religious objections" that some parents have regarding the shot used in the US A presentation on Thursday will be led by Lyn Redwood, former leader of the Children's Health Defence, an anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy. Redwood's slide presentation on thimerosal's effects on the brain, released on Tuesday, included a reference to a study that does not exist, the listed author told Reuters. The presentation has since been updated to remove the reference. The vaccine advisory panel reconstituted by US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said it would study the schedule of childhood and adolescent immunisations and review the use of older vaccines. Kennedy, who has a long history of sowing doubt about vaccine safety, this month fired all 17 members of a Centres for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory panel and replaced them with his own picks. At least two CDC staff members left over the changes. Major medical experts and former members of the panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices, have expressed concern over its reconstitution. The influential American Academy of Pediatrics, boycotted the panel's first meeting in protest, saying it would publish its own evidence-based childhood vaccine schedule. More than half of the remaining seven members have advocated against vaccines. The outcome of the meeting is critical, as the panel's recommendations influence the official US immunisation schedule, determine insurance coverage for vaccines and guide procurement for the CDC's Vaccines for Children program. Committee chair Dr. Martin Kulldorff - a biostatistician and epidemiologist who publicly criticised COVID-19 lockdowns and was fired from Harvard for refusing to take a COVID-19 vaccine - said the panel will review the total number of vaccines US children and adolescents receive, which he said exceeds those given to children in other developed nations. The group will also evaluate individual vaccines as well as the cumulative effect of the recommended vaccine schedule. Kulldorff also said the panel would study the use of a combined measles-mumps-rubella-varicella shot as well as research on the optimal timing of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine "to resolve religious objections" that some parents have regarding the shot used in the US A presentation on Thursday will be led by Lyn Redwood, former leader of the Children's Health Defence, an anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy. Redwood's slide presentation on thimerosal's effects on the brain, released on Tuesday, included a reference to a study that does not exist, the listed author told Reuters. The presentation has since been updated to remove the reference. The vaccine advisory panel reconstituted by US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said it would study the schedule of childhood and adolescent immunisations and review the use of older vaccines. Kennedy, who has a long history of sowing doubt about vaccine safety, this month fired all 17 members of a Centres for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory panel and replaced them with his own picks. At least two CDC staff members left over the changes. Major medical experts and former members of the panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices, have expressed concern over its reconstitution. The influential American Academy of Pediatrics, boycotted the panel's first meeting in protest, saying it would publish its own evidence-based childhood vaccine schedule. More than half of the remaining seven members have advocated against vaccines. The outcome of the meeting is critical, as the panel's recommendations influence the official US immunisation schedule, determine insurance coverage for vaccines and guide procurement for the CDC's Vaccines for Children program. Committee chair Dr. Martin Kulldorff - a biostatistician and epidemiologist who publicly criticised COVID-19 lockdowns and was fired from Harvard for refusing to take a COVID-19 vaccine - said the panel will review the total number of vaccines US children and adolescents receive, which he said exceeds those given to children in other developed nations. The group will also evaluate individual vaccines as well as the cumulative effect of the recommended vaccine schedule. Kulldorff also said the panel would study the use of a combined measles-mumps-rubella-varicella shot as well as research on the optimal timing of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine "to resolve religious objections" that some parents have regarding the shot used in the US A presentation on Thursday will be led by Lyn Redwood, former leader of the Children's Health Defence, an anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy. Redwood's slide presentation on thimerosal's effects on the brain, released on Tuesday, included a reference to a study that does not exist, the listed author told Reuters. The presentation has since been updated to remove the reference. The vaccine advisory panel reconstituted by US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said it would study the schedule of childhood and adolescent immunisations and review the use of older vaccines. Kennedy, who has a long history of sowing doubt about vaccine safety, this month fired all 17 members of a Centres for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory panel and replaced them with his own picks. At least two CDC staff members left over the changes. Major medical experts and former members of the panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices, have expressed concern over its reconstitution. The influential American Academy of Pediatrics, boycotted the panel's first meeting in protest, saying it would publish its own evidence-based childhood vaccine schedule. More than half of the remaining seven members have advocated against vaccines. The outcome of the meeting is critical, as the panel's recommendations influence the official US immunisation schedule, determine insurance coverage for vaccines and guide procurement for the CDC's Vaccines for Children program. Committee chair Dr. Martin Kulldorff - a biostatistician and epidemiologist who publicly criticised COVID-19 lockdowns and was fired from Harvard for refusing to take a COVID-19 vaccine - said the panel will review the total number of vaccines US children and adolescents receive, which he said exceeds those given to children in other developed nations. The group will also evaluate individual vaccines as well as the cumulative effect of the recommended vaccine schedule. Kulldorff also said the panel would study the use of a combined measles-mumps-rubella-varicella shot as well as research on the optimal timing of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine "to resolve religious objections" that some parents have regarding the shot used in the US A presentation on Thursday will be led by Lyn Redwood, former leader of the Children's Health Defence, an anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy. Redwood's slide presentation on thimerosal's effects on the brain, released on Tuesday, included a reference to a study that does not exist, the listed author told Reuters. The presentation has since been updated to remove the reference.
