- The new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices includes people skeptical about vaccines.
- Medicaid insurance and immunity mandates for school pupils rely on ACIP's vaccine policy recommendations.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics deems ACIP's meetings 'no longer credible.'
The newly appointed federal panel that advises the nation on vaccinations met for the first time Wednesday and made it clear that existing vaccine recommendations and policy may be on their way out.
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this month fired the members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, some of whom were barely into their appointed terms. The new panel, appointed two weeks ago, includes a number of people known to be vaccine skeptics or “anti-vaccination.”
The ACIP chairman, Dr. Robert Malone, has said he considers being called an “anti-vaxxer” a compliment.
The group will advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the nation’s vaccine policy, including when and with which vaccines children should be immunized. Members signaled at the meeting that childhood vaccine recommendations could change.
As The New York Times explained, the panel’s “determinations have a powerful impact. Insurance companies and government programs like Medicaid are required to cover immunizations that the CDC recommends and states base their school mandates on the agency’s guidance.”
The vaccine landscape is somewhat contentious in the U.S., as Kennedy has repeatedly questioned the safety and efficacy of different vaccinations, while the scientific community has credited them with saving lives. Since taking office, Kennedy has changed some recommendations, including pulling the advice that pregnant women and healthy young children be vaccinated against COVID-19, as Deseret News earlier reported.
The American Academy of Pediatrics took the unusual step of boycotting the ACIP meeting. Its president, Dr. Sue Kressly, in a video decried the panel’s meetings as “no longer a credible process.” She said the academy will continue to publish its own vaccination schedule to guide doctors and families.
Issues being considered
The panel is expected to vote very soon on proposals regarding the flu vaccines and use of thimerosal preservative in some flu shots. That’s a mercury-containing compound that has been added to vaccines to stop bacterial contamination in vials that contain more than one dose.
Although the vast majority of studies have not found a link and critics have lambasted the methodology of the few that did, some oppose use of the preservative, claiming it plays a role in development of autism. Others note that while autism rates have increased, “since 2001, vaccines manufactured for the U.S. market and routinely recommended for children 6 years or younger have contained no thimerosal or only trace amounts, with limited exceptions,” as the Associated Press reported.
The committee is also expected to vote soon on “whether to recommend a second version of a lab-made antibody that protects newborns against a childhood menace called respiratory syncytial virus (RSV),” per AP.
In other vaccine news, Kennedy hired Lyn Redwood, a nurse who used to be president of Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group Kennedy founded. CBS News reported that the group “has sued to curb vaccine requirements, petitioned federal agencies to revoke vaccine authorizations and spread misinformation about vaccines. Kennedy was listed as the group’s founder and chairman before assuming his role at the helm of HHS."
Redwood will reportedly be an adviser in the vaccine safety office at the CDC and is expected to address the committee just before its vote on thimerosal.
Global vaccine aid funding pulled
Saying that Gavi “ignored the science” as it immunized children around the world, Kennedy this week said the U.S. will stop funding the global vaccine agency. The U.S. had previously pledged $1.2 billion to buy vaccines for children in very-low-income countries.
The New York Times reported the announcement was made in a video to global leaders who had gathered to support Gavi. “When vaccine safety issues have come before Gavi, Gavi has treated them not as a patient health problem, but as a public relations problem,” Kennedy said. He didn’t offer examples.
The Times called his speech “the first indication that the Trump administration’s decision to end funding for Gavi may be motivated by mistrust of vaccines, in addition to a desire to reduce foreign aid.”
Gavi issued its own statement in rebuttal: “Any decision made by Gavi with regards to its vaccine portfolio is made in alignment with recommendations by the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), a group of independent experts that reviews all available data through a rigorous, transparent and independent process. This ensures Gavi investments are grounded in the best available science and public health priorities.”
In the video, Kennedy added that “there is much that I admire about Gavi,” including the group’s “commitment to making medicine affordable to all the world’s people.”
Britain pledged $1.7 billion to Gavi, making it the largest financial backer. Several other countries, including Australia, Italy, Canada, Greece and Croatia increased their pledges. Billionaire Bill Gates said he would continue donating to the group at his usual rate. But the total falls short of the $9 billion sought for the next four years, per the article.
The World Health Organization has credited Gavi with immunizing “a whole generation — over 1 billion children — and preventing more than 17.3 million future deaths."