Latest news with #Osterholm
NBC News
22-06-2025
- Health
- NBC News
Outside groups organize to form unbiased, independent vaccine panel
In the wake of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to shake up a key federal vaccine advisory committee, outside medical organizations and independent experts are looking for alternate sources of unbiased information and even considering forming a group of their own. A leading contender is a new group led by Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert and the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota. Osterholm is launching the Vaccine Integrity Project at CIDRAP as a potential alternative to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. 'We've always just taken for granted that routine child immunizations and other vaccines would be readily available and that they would be supported by the public health system,' Osterholm said. 'Now that's in question.' Earlier this month, Kennedy fired all 17 members from ACIP, appointing in their place eight new members, many of whom have expressed vaccine-skeptical views or questioned pandemic restrictions. Kennedy himself has a long history of anti-vaccination activism. The American Academy of Pediatrics has called the new ACIP members a ' radical departure' from the committee's mission of protecting kids. ACIP holds a significant amount of influence over vaccinations in the U.S.; the panel is responsible for setting the childhood vaccination schedule and determining what vaccines are given free of charge under the Vaccines for Children Program. Its recommendations guide what vaccinations are required for attending public school and what shots insurance covers. 'The real risk is that families and patients may not have access to vaccines' if the panel makes changes to their recommendations, said Dr. Molly O'Shea, a pediatrician in Michigan. 'The ramifications are deep,' said Dr. Michelle Taylor, a pediatrician and the director of the Shelby County Health Department in Memphis, Tennessee. 'Any school system that is requiring immunizations for school entry is looking for those ACIP recommendations, either directly from the CDC, from the Department of Education, if they are filtered there, or from their local or state health departments.' CIDRAP is now consulting with multiple medical organizations and public health groups — including the AAP, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, the American Pharmacists Association, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, as well as insurance providers — to discuss vaccine recommendations. Insurance companies rely on ACIP's guidance on which vaccines to cover. But if enough reputable public health groups come up with recommendations different from ACIP's, Osterholm said those groups could sway insurance companies on which shots to cover. Although vaccination rates have been slipping in recent years, the vast majority of American families do vaccinate their kids. The CDC reported that 92.7% of kindergartners in the 2023-24 school year had received their routine childhood vaccines. Parents depend on guidance from pediatricians on which shots to give and when. Those pediatricians rely on CDC guidance. 'Pediatricians have one goal, and that's to keep every child healthy and safe in every community. That is what we wake up every morning thinking about. That is what we go to sleep thinking about at night,' said Dr. Susan Kressly, the president of the AAP. 'If pediatricians are not standing up for what children and families deserve and need, then who?' Some major medical organizations are voicing their concerns about Kennedy's anti-vaccine actions. The American Medical Association has asked Congress to investigate Kennedy's handling of ACIP. States are also taking action. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services defied the HHS declaration that the federal government would no longer recommend Covid shots for healthy children and pregnant women. 'The recent changes in CDC guidance were not made based on new data, evidence, or scientific or medical studies, nor was the guidance issued following normal processes,' the state's department of health wrote in a press release. The Illinois Department of Public Health criticized Kennedy's gutting of ACIP, saying on X that the secretary had a 'misunderstanding of how vaccine trials work.' ACIP's approach ACIP was formed in 1972 as an independent panel of experts to educate the federal government on vaccines. The committee —composed of experts including pediatricians, geriatricians, infectious disease doctors, immunologists and vaccinologists — has three regular meetings a year to pore over the evidence for new or updated vaccines. All meetings are open to the public and are streamed online. The panel may also be convened outside of those regular meetings. During the Covid pandemic, for example, the committee reviewed rare reports of a heart problem called myocarditis in some young men who'd had the Covid shot. The committee also recommended against the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine after it was linked to rare but potentially deadly blood clots. Recommendations from ACIP are usually adopted by the director of the CDC. But there isn't any CDC director at the moment. President Donald Trump's pick for the job, Susan Monarez, has a scheduled confirmation hearing in the Senate on June 25 — the same day Kennedy's new ACIP members will meet for the first time. As head of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kennedy is the ultimate authority and has the ability to override ACIP recommendations. He flexed this rarely used muscle in May by announcing — without any input from ACIP — that the Covid vaccine would no longer be recommended for healthy children and pregnant women. ACIP members have historically gone through an extensive vetting process to ensure their expertise. If members have conflicts of interest, they recuse themselves from votes. An HHS spokesman said its eight new ACIP members were thoroughly vetted, but not did not offer specifics. Two members, Dr. Martin Kulldorff and Dr. Robert Malone, were previously paid experts in trials involving Merck vaccines. Another, Vicky Pebsworth, served as an expert witness in a federal lawsuit brought by activists who sought to outlaw childhood vaccination mandates. The case was dismissed in 2021. Vaccine skepticism isn't necessarily a bad thing. 'True scientists ask critical questions in a way that doesn't presume the answer,' the AAP's O'Shea said. 'What has made America great, however, is our medical and scientific innovation. To undermine that is gravely concerning to me.'
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Concerned about US vaccine misinformation and access, public health experts start Vaccine Integrity Project
Concerned that the nation's health leadership is casting unfounded doubt on the safety of well-studied vaccines and may take action to curb their use, a group of public health experts is working to put pieces in place to respond. The initiative, the Vaccine Integrity Project, will be funded by a foundation backed by Walmart heiress Christy Walton and has a steering committee helmed by former US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg and former National Academy of Medicine President Dr. Harvey Fineberg, said Dr. Michael Osterholm, who is leading the initiative and who serves as director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. The effort will consider what's needed to safeguard vaccine policy and use in the US, including whether there's a need for a new independent body to evaluate vaccine safety and effectiveness, Osterholm said ahead of Thursday's announcement. 'There have been conversations happening for months now across the public health community about, 'what will we do if US government vaccine information becomes corrupted or the system that helps to ensure their safety and efficacy are compromised?' ' he said. The initiative is being formed in response to actions by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spread mixed messages about the measles vaccine amid a deadly outbreak, accused advisers to federal health agencies of conflicts of interest and pledged to start a major autism study that experts fear will falsely tie the condition to vaccines. The Vaccine Integrity Project's first move will be to hold a series of information-gathering sessions, pulling together experts from local public health departments, medical associations, academia, public policy, industry and others. The initial goal is to determine 'what is important to have going forward if, in fact, there should be compromise by the federal government in terms of our vaccine enterprise,' Osterholm said. 'We can't say at this point that that's happened, but we don't want to wait until the moment it might happen, and we have enough signals that that is.' He pointed to Kennedy's vaccine comments, as well as moves like some Minnesota state legislators' introduction of a bill this week 'to declare that mRNA vaccine technology is a weapon of mass destruction and that it should be immediately taken off the market and anyone using it would be liable for criminal activity.' 'Who's going to respond to that?' Osterholm asked. 'Is anybody at the federal government level going to respond to activities like that? That's a question I think we are left, at this point, unanswered.' The 'initial feedback phase,' as he called it, will start this month and last until early August. 'We don't know what's this is going to look like at the end, but we'll only find out by listening to all of these groups,' Osterholm said. 'At the end of that process, hopefully we can all look at it and come to a similar conclusion, that this is what's necessary or not necessary to protect the vaccine enterprise.'
CNN
24-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
Concerned about US vaccine misinformation and access, public health experts start Vaccine Integrity Project
Concerned that the nation's health leadership is casting unfounded doubt on the safety of well-studied vaccines and may take action to curb their use, a group of public health experts is working to put pieces in place to respond. The initiative, the Vaccine Integrity Project, will be funded by a foundation backed by Walmart heiress Christy Walton and has a steering committee helmed by former US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg and former National Academy of Medicine President Dr. Harvey Fineberg, said Dr. Michael Osterholm, who is leading the initiative and who serves as director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. The effort will consider what's needed to safeguard vaccine policy and use in the US, including whether there's a need for a new independent body to evaluate vaccine safety and effectiveness, Osterholm said ahead of Thursday's announcement. 'There have been conversations happening for months now across the public health community about, 'what will we do if US government vaccine information becomes corrupted or the system that helps to ensure their safety and efficacy are compromised?' ' he said. The initiative is being formed in response to actions by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spread mixed messages about the measles vaccine amid a deadly outbreak, accused advisers to federal health agencies of conflicts of interest and pledged to start a major autism study that experts fear will falsely tie the condition to vaccines. The Vaccine Integrity Project's first move will be to hold a series of information-gathering sessions, pulling together experts from local public health departments, medical associations, academia, public policy, industry and others. The initial goal is to determine 'what is important to have going forward if, in fact, there should be compromise by the federal government in terms of our vaccine enterprise,' Osterholm said. 'We can't say at this point that that's happened, but we don't want to wait until the moment it might happen, and we have enough signals that that is.' He pointed to Kennedy's vaccine comments, as well as moves like some Minnesota state legislators' introduction of a bill this week 'to declare that mRNA vaccine technology is a weapon of mass destruction and that it should be immediately taken off the market and anyone using it would be liable for criminal activity.' 'Who's going to respond to that?' Osterholm asked. 'Is anybody at the federal government level going to respond to activities like that? That's a question I think we are left, at this point, unanswered.' The 'initial feedback phase,' as he called it, will start this month and last until early August. 'We don't know what's this is going to look like at the end, but we'll only find out by listening to all of these groups,' Osterholm said. 'At the end of that process, hopefully we can all look at it and come to a similar conclusion, that this is what's necessary or not necessary to protect the vaccine enterprise.'
CNN
24-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
Concerned about US vaccine misinformation and access, public health experts start Vaccine Integrity Project
Concerned that the nation's health leadership is casting unfounded doubt on the safety of well-studied vaccines and may take action to curb their use, a group of public health experts is working to put pieces in place to respond. The initiative, the Vaccine Integrity Project, will be funded by a foundation backed by Walmart heiress Christy Walton and has a steering committee helmed by former US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg and former National Academy of Medicine President Dr. Harvey Fineberg, said Dr. Michael Osterholm, who is leading the initiative and who serves as director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. The effort will consider what's needed to safeguard vaccine policy and use in the US, including whether there's a need for a new independent body to evaluate vaccine safety and effectiveness, Osterholm said ahead of Thursday's announcement. 'There have been conversations happening for months now across the public health community about, 'what will we do if US government vaccine information becomes corrupted or the system that helps to ensure their safety and efficacy are compromised?' ' he said. The initiative is being formed in response to actions by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spread mixed messages about the measles vaccine amid a deadly outbreak, accused advisers to federal health agencies of conflicts of interest and pledged to start a major autism study that experts fear will falsely tie the condition to vaccines. The Vaccine Integrity Project's first move will be to hold a series of information-gathering sessions, pulling together experts from local public health departments, medical associations, academia, public policy, industry and others. The initial goal is to determine 'what is important to have going forward if, in fact, there should be compromise by the federal government in terms of our vaccine enterprise,' Osterholm said. 'We can't say at this point that that's happened, but we don't want to wait until the moment it might happen, and we have enough signals that that is.' He pointed to Kennedy's vaccine comments, as well as moves like some Minnesota state legislators' introduction of a bill this week 'to declare that mRNA vaccine technology is a weapon of mass destruction and that it should be immediately taken off the market and anyone using it would be liable for criminal activity.' 'Who's going to respond to that?' Osterholm asked. 'Is anybody at the federal government level going to respond to activities like that? That's a question I think we are left, at this point, unanswered.' The 'initial feedback phase,' as he called it, will start this month and last until early August. 'We don't know what's this is going to look like at the end, but we'll only find out by listening to all of these groups,' Osterholm said. 'At the end of that process, hopefully we can all look at it and come to a similar conclusion, that this is what's necessary or not necessary to protect the vaccine enterprise.'
The Guardian
20-03-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
‘Don't call it zombie deer disease': scientists warn of ‘global crisis' as infections spread across the US
In a scattershot pattern that now extends from coast to coast, continental US states have been announcing new hotspots of chronic wasting disease (CWD). The contagious and always-fatal neurodegenerative disorder infects the cervid family that includes deer, elk, moose and, in higher latitudes, reindeer. There is no vaccine or treatment. Described by scientists as a 'slow-motion disaster in the making', the infection's presence in the wild began quietly, with a few free-ranging deer in Colorado and Wyoming in 1981. However, it has now reached wild and domestic game animal herds in 36 US states as well as parts of Canada, wild and domestic reindeer in Scandinavia and farmed deer and elk in South Korea. In the media, CWD is often called 'zombie deer disease' due to its symptoms, which include drooling, emaciation, disorientation, a vacant 'staring' gaze and a lack of fear of people. As concerns about spillover to humans or other species grow, however, the moniker has irritated many scientists. 'It trivialises what we're facing,' says epidemiologist Michael Osterholm. 'It leaves readers with the false impression that this is nothing more than some strange fictional menace you'd find in the plot of a sci-fi film. Animals that get infected with CWD do not come back from the dead. CWD is a deathly serious public and wildlife health issue.' Five years ago, Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, delivered what he hoped would be a wake-up call before the Minnesota legislature, warning about 'spillover' of CWD transmission from infected deer to humans eating game meat. Back then, some portrayed him as a scaremonger. Today, as CWD spreads inexorably to more deer and elk, more people – probably tens of thousands each year – are consuming infected venison, and a growing number of scientists are echoing Osterholm's concerns. In January 2025, researchers published a report, Chronic Wasting Disease Spillover Preparedness and Response: Charting an Uncertain Future. A panel of 67 experts who study zoonotic diseases that can move back and forth between humans and animals concluded that spillover to humans 'would trigger a national and global crisis' with 'far-reaching effects on the food supply, economy, global trade and agriculture', as well as potentially devastating effects on human health. The report concludes that the US is utterly unprepared to deal with spillover of CWD to people, and that there is no unifying international strategy to prevent CWD's spread. So far, there has not been a documented case of a human contracting CWD, but as with BSE (or mad cow disease) and its variant strain that killed people, long incubation times can mask the presence of disease. CWD, which is incurable, can be diagnosed only after a victim dies. Better surveillance to identify disease in people and game animals is more urgent than ever, experts say. Osterholm says the Trump administration's proposed cuts to public health funding and research, and the US's withdrawal from international institutions, such as the World Health Organization, could not be happening at a worse time. The risk of a CWD spillover event is growing, the panel of experts say, and the risk is higher in states where big game hunting for the table remains a tradition. In a survey of US residents by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20% said they had hunted deer or elk, and more than 60% said they had eaten venison or elk meat. Tens of thousands of people are probably eating contaminated game meat either because they do not think they are at risk or they are unaware of the threat. 'Hunters sharing their venison with other families is a widespread practice,' Osterholm says. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises people who suspect they have killed an animal infected with CWD not to eat it, and states advise any hunters taking animals from infected regions to get them tested. Many, however, do not. The movement of meat around the country also raises concerns of environmental contamination. CWD is not caused by bacteria or a virus, but by 'prions': abnormal, transmissible pathogenic agents that are difficult to destroy. Prions have demonstrated an ability to remain activated in soils for many years, infecting animals that come in contact with contaminated areas where they have been shed via urination, defecation, saliva and decomposition when an animal dies. Analysis by the US Geological Survey has shown that numerous carcasses of hunted animals, many probably contaminated with CWD, are transported across state lines, accelerating the scope of prion dispersal. In states where many thousands of deer and elk carcasses are disposed of, some in landfill, there is concern among epidemiologists and local public health officials that toxic waste sites for prions could be created. Every autumn, Lloyd Dorsey has hunted elk and deer to put meat on the table, but now he is concerned about its safety. 'Since CWD is now in elk and deer throughout Greater Yellowstone, the disease is on everybody's mind,' he says. Dorsey has spent decades as a professional conservationist for the Sierra Club, based in Jackson Hole in Wyoming, and he has pressed the state and federal governments to shut down feedgrounds for deer – where cervids gather and disease can easily spread. 'Wyoming has wilfully chosen to ignore conservationists, scientists, disease experts and prominent wildlife managers who were all saying the same thing: stop the feeding,' he says. Apart from the grave concerns about CWD reaching people, scientists describe it as 'an existential threat' to wild cervid populations, which are central to American hunting traditions. Nowhere is there more at stake than in the region surrounding the country's most famous nature preserve, Yellowstone. A new study that tracked 1,000 adult white-tailed deer and fawns in south-west Wisconsin mirrors what research elsewhere suggests: over time infected animals die at rates that outpace natural reproduction, meaning some populations could disappear. No animals have demonstrated immunity to CWD and there is no vaccine. If depopulating herds becomes necessary to reduce disease presence, it could have devastating consequences for people who rely on those animals and who have a connection to them. Studies show that having healthy wild carnivores on a landscape can help weed out sick CWD-carrying elk and deer, but states in the northern Rockies have adopted policies aimed at dramatically reducing wolves, bears and mountain lions. Other policies continue to contradict scientific advice. Wyoming has attracted national criticism for refusing to shutter nearly two dozen feedgrounds where tens of thousands of elk and deer gather in close confines every winter and are fed artificial forage to bolster their numbers. One of the largest feedgrounds is operated by the federal government: the National Elk Refuge, where more than 8,000 elk cluster, and CWD has already been detected. Tom Roffe, former chief of animal health for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge, and Bruce Smith, a former refuge senior biologist, have said Wyoming has created ripe conditions for an outbreak of the disease, with consequences that will negatively ripple throughout the region. 'This has been a slowly expanding epidemic with a growth curve playing out on a decades scale, but now we're seeing the deepening consequences and they could be severe,' Roffe says. 'Unfortunately, what's happening with this disease was predictable and we're living with the consequences of some decisions that were rooted in denial.' Roffe and others say the best defence is having healthy landscapes where unnatural feeding of wildlife is unnecessary and where predators are not eliminated but allowed to carry out their role of eliminating sick animals. 'As Yellowstone has been for generations, it is the most amazing and best place to get wildlife conservation right,' Dorsey says. 'It would be such a shame if we continued doing something as foolish as concentrating thousands of elk and deer, making them more vulnerable to catching and spreading this catastrophic disease, when we didn't have to.' Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage
