Latest news with #VaccinesforChildren
Axios
10 hours ago
- Health
- Axios
RFK Jr. greenlights removing preservative from flu shots
The Health and Human Services Department on Wednesday said it adopted a recommendation from Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine advisers to remove from all influenza shots a preservative that anti-vaccine activists have suggested is linked to autism. Why it matters: The move hinged on the widely discredited belief that the mercury-containing compound, thimerosal, is harmful at the level at which it's included in vaccines. Despite the lack of evidence of harm, most Americans who get flu vaccines already receive products without thimerosal. The latest: Kennedy, in a statement, said the action fulfilled a promise to protect vulnerable populations from unnecessary mercury exposure. "Injecting any amount of mercury into children when safe, mercury-free alternatives exist defies common sense and public health responsibility," Kennedy said. "Today, we put safety first." The Centers for Disease Control customarily acts on such recommendations. But because the CDC lacks a full-time political leader, Kennedy signed the recommendation. HHS said that vaccine manufacturers confirmed that they have the capacity to replace multi-dose vials containing the preservative so that the federal Vaccines for Children program and adult vaccine supplies won't be interrupted. Kennedy's handpicked vaccine advisors voted 5-1 last month to no longer recommend that that Americans get flu shots containing thimerosal, following a presentation from a retired nurse and former president of Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group with close ties to Kennedy.
Axios
26-06-2025
- Health
- Axios
RFK Jr.'s vaccine advisors recommend RSV antibodies for infants
Federal vaccine advisors on Thursday recommended Merck's new RSV antibody shot for infants younger than eight months old in their first respiratory virus season, if their mother didn't receive a vaccine during pregnancy. Why it matters: The 5-2 vote marked the first decision from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s handpicked committee, which advises the CDC on immunization policy. But the discussion reflected skepticism from some committee members about vaccine safety and administering shots to infants. State of play: The FDA approved the Merck antibody shot for infants earlier this month. The recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices still has to be endorsed by the CDC, which currently lacks a full-time political leader. Zoom in: Panel member Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at MIT, voted against the recommendation. He questioned the safety of the antibodies for healthy infants, and said he would not feel comfortable giving them to his own children if they didn't have existing health issues. "My objection is based on the fact that I don't feel this is ready to administer to all healthy babies," Levi said. Vicki Pebsworth, a nurse and public health Ph.D. who's served on the board of an anti-vaccine group, also voted no. Cody Meissner, a pediatrician who's served as a consultant to the committee on RSV vaccines prior to his appointment as a voting ACIP member, pushed back against the concerns. "If I were your pediatrician, I would strongly recommend that your wife either receive the RSV vaccine or a monoclonal antibody at birth," Meissner said. "These are truly remarkable products. They are safe and they're effective, and I don't think there's any further data that needs to be presented," he added. ACIP also voted in favor of recommending that the RSV vaccine be included in the federal Vaccines for Children program, which provides no-cost shots to kids whose families would otherwise not be able to afford them. "This is extremely important that VFC cover this product," Meissner said. "It is very important to ensure equity in our country ... It would not be right, because these are expensive products, that only families that are well insured have access to these products."
The Sun
26-06-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Kennedy's US vaccine panel breaks norms, plans to review immunization schedule
CHICAGO: U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s newly reconstituted vaccine advisory panel said during its first meeting on Wednesday that it would study the schedule of childhood and adolescent immunizations and review the use of older vaccines. The advisory panel has already strayed from norms and procedures designed to ensure scientific rigor and consensus, vaccine advisers and former government employees told Reuters, and one prominent medical group has boycotted the meeting, which is unfolding under intense scrutiny. Kennedy, who has a long history of sowing doubt about vaccine safety, this month fired all 17 members of a Centers 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 Immunization Practices, have expressed concern over its reconstitution. The influential American Academy of Pediatrics, which typically sends a non-voting representative to the meeting and takes part in work groups, boycotted the meeting in protest, saying it would publish its own evidence-based childhood vaccine schedule. One of its newly appointed members, Dr. Michael Ross, unexpectedly withdrew from the panel, further fueling concerns about the internal dynamics of the reshaped group. 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 U.S. immunization 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 criticized 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 U.S. 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. "This includes interaction effects between different vaccines, the total number of vaccines, cumulative amounts of vaccine ingredients and the relative timing of different vaccines," he said. 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 U.S. An area of focus at the two-day meeting is vaccines containing thimerosal, long targeted by anti-vaccine advocates despite broad scientific consensus on its safety. Wednesday's scheduled vote on the use of an RSV vaccine in children was postponed. Recommendations are typically sent to the CDC director for approval, but the nominee has not yet been confirmed. Nominee Susan Monarez testified at a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday. BREAKING NORMS Typically, vaccine advisory meetings require months of preparation and multiple subcommittee meetings with career CDC experts, panel members and outside experts who review scientific data and present recommendations for the committee to consider and vote on. Agendas and voting questions are posted publicly weeks before to allow for public comment. Instead, the final meeting agenda was posted on the CDC's website on Tuesday then changed to shift who would be making a presentation on the newly added topic of the use of thimerosal in flu vaccines, a preservative that has been largely phased out of U.S. vaccines. That Thursday presentation will be led by Lyn Redwood, former leader of the Children's Health Defense, 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. COVID-19 and influenza work group meetings to prepare for Wednesday's panel were canceled because no new ACIP members had been assigned, members of the groups said. An HHS spokesperson disputed the concerns relayed to Reuters, saying the additions and scheduling decisions were made transparently and in line with established procedures. "The normal process is for material and issues that are brought before the full committee to come through the work groups. Those are the subcommittees," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease and vaccine expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who serves on the influenza work group. During the meeting, Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, a recently named Food and Drug Administration representative known as an "ex-officio" participant, questioned a CDC representative on the reliability of its COVID-19 vaccine efficacy data. Hoeg has opposed key U.S. COVID-19 health policies. Her questioning was unusual, according to two former CDC staff members and one current liaison to the ACIP panel who were monitoring the meeting. "The ex-officios usually are there to answer questions and rarely ask questions," Schaffner said of Hoeg's comments.
The Sun
26-06-2025
- Health
- The Sun
RFK Jr.'s vaccine panel sparks backlash, alters procedures
CHICAGO: U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s newly reconstituted vaccine advisory panel said during its first meeting on Wednesday that it would study the schedule of childhood and adolescent immunizations and review the use of older vaccines. The advisory panel has already strayed from norms and procedures designed to ensure scientific rigor and consensus, vaccine advisers and former government employees told Reuters, and one prominent medical group has boycotted the meeting, which is unfolding under intense scrutiny. Kennedy, who has a long history of sowing doubt about vaccine safety, this month fired all 17 members of a Centers 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 Immunization Practices, have expressed concern over its reconstitution. The influential American Academy of Pediatrics, which typically sends a non-voting representative to the meeting and takes part in work groups, boycotted the meeting in protest, saying it would publish its own evidence-based childhood vaccine schedule. One of its newly appointed members, Dr. Michael Ross, unexpectedly withdrew from the panel, further fueling concerns about the internal dynamics of the reshaped group. 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 U.S. immunization 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 criticized 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 U.S. 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. "This includes interaction effects between different vaccines, the total number of vaccines, cumulative amounts of vaccine ingredients and the relative timing of different vaccines," he said. 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 U.S. An area of focus at the two-day meeting is vaccines containing thimerosal, long targeted by anti-vaccine advocates despite broad scientific consensus on its safety. Wednesday's scheduled vote on the use of an RSV vaccine in children was postponed. Recommendations are typically sent to the CDC director for approval, but the nominee has not yet been confirmed. Nominee Susan Monarez testified at a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday. BREAKING NORMS Typically, vaccine advisory meetings require months of preparation and multiple subcommittee meetings with career CDC experts, panel members and outside experts who review scientific data and present recommendations for the committee to consider and vote on. Agendas and voting questions are posted publicly weeks before to allow for public comment. Instead, the final meeting agenda was posted on the CDC's website on Tuesday then changed to shift who would be making a presentation on the newly added topic of the use of thimerosal in flu vaccines, a preservative that has been largely phased out of U.S. vaccines. That Thursday presentation will be led by Lyn Redwood, former leader of the Children's Health Defense, 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. COVID-19 and influenza work group meetings to prepare for Wednesday's panel were canceled because no new ACIP members had been assigned, members of the groups said. An HHS spokesperson disputed the concerns relayed to Reuters, saying the additions and scheduling decisions were made transparently and in line with established procedures. "The normal process is for material and issues that are brought before the full committee to come through the work groups. Those are the subcommittees," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease and vaccine expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who serves on the influenza work group. During the meeting, Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, a recently named Food and Drug Administration representative known as an "ex-officio" participant, questioned a CDC representative on the reliability of its COVID-19 vaccine efficacy data. Hoeg has opposed key U.S. COVID-19 health policies. Her questioning was unusual, according to two former CDC staff members and one current liaison to the ACIP panel who were monitoring the meeting. "The ex-officios usually are there to answer questions and rarely ask questions," Schaffner said of Hoeg's comments.
The Advertiser
26-06-2025
- Health
- 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.
