Nobel laureate fears US will block life-saving shots as RFK Jr fills panel with sceptics
MEXICO CITY, June 26 — Drew Weissman, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine, voiced fears Wednesday that vaccine sceptics appointed by US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr would block approvals of new treatments.
His remarks, in an interview during a visit to Mexico City, came on the same day that a US vaccine review panel appointed by Kennedy held its first meeting.
'My fear is that no new vaccines are going to be approved in the United States,' Weissman, who was awarded for his work on developing mRNA vaccines used in the fight against Covid-19, told AFP.
Kennedy — who spent decades spreading vaccine misinformation before becoming President Donald Trump's top health official — abruptly fired all 17 sitting members of the committee earlier this month, accusing them of industry conflicts of interest.
He replaced them with eight new appointees, including scientist Robert Malone, known for promoting false claims during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The panel's first major test comes Thursday, when it votes on whether to recommend a newly approved antibody shot against RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, for infants whose mothers did not receive an RSV vaccine during pregnancy.
Weissman was one of dozens of Nobel prize winners who sent an open letter to the US Senate in December opposing Trump's nomination of Kennedy as health secretary due to his 'lack of credentials' and anti-vaccine beliefs.
While vaccine sceptics have always existed, it is the first time that one has been given such a prominent role, Weissman said.
'What's new is that this is the first time a government has sponsored and hired an anti-vaccine person to be in charge of vaccines. That's incredibly hypocritical and dangerous,' he said.
'In 2000, we had no measles in the United States. Now it's running rampant. There are thousands and thousands of cases because people aren't taking vaccines. So we need a government who recognises the importance of vaccines, not who promotes anti-vaccine people,' Weissman said. — AFP
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