Inside the unusual, RFK-appointed panel that's deciding on childhood vaccines

USA Today

5 hours ago

The world just got its first look at the inner workings of the new vaccine panel appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and their immediate focus: childhood vaccines.
The eight new members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices met for the first time on June 25, where ACIP Chair Martin Kulldorf announced at the top of the meeting how the panel plans to reexamine the childhood immunization schedule.
"The number of vaccines that our children and adolescents receive today exceeds what children in most other developed nations receive and what most of us in this room received when we were children," he said. "In addition to studying and evaluating individual vaccines, it's important to evaluate the cumulative effect of the recommended vaccine schedule."
Kulldorff added the committee will also establish workgroups to investigate vaccines that protect against measles, mumps and rubella and hepatitis B.
Kennedy fired all 17 original members of the committee on June 9 and appointed its new members, which included some vaccine skeptics, a few days later.
Their recommendations will have wide-ranging implications, guiding vaccine requirements for schools and impacting a government program offering free vaccinations for about half of America's kids.
Many experts are concerned the panel's actions will sow doubt in vaccines that have been deemed safe and effective.
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'To raise doubt about our traditional pediatric vaccines that have saved millions of lives, particularly during one of the worst measles outbreaks we have had in years, is irresponsible and will cost lives,' said Dr. Gretchen LaSalle, a family physician in Spokane, Washington, who represents the American Academy of Family Physicians for an ACIP workgroup.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel also reviewed data about COVID-19 vaccines, immediately questioning their safety and effectiveness. They also raised questions about the study design, methodologies and surveillance monitoring systems behind the data, which Dr. Pamela Rockwell, clinical professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, addressed as standard of medical research.
"Our efforts, through a very robust system of checks and balances, are to create vaccines and vaccination programs that result in the most benefit with the least harm," said LaSalle, from AAFP.
The committee didn't vote on COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for the fall and isn't expected to reconvene until 'September/October,' according to the CDC website.
'Stakes are simply too high': Criticisms and controversies
Public comment during the meeting was a mix of voices raising criticisms and concerns about potential harm, from different perspectives.
Nurses, pediatricians, public health experts and mothers flooded the public comment portion of the meeting to criticize Kennedy's decision to fire the 17 original ACIP members and advocate the protective benefits of vaccines.
'The Big Cities Health Coalition is deeply concerned that many routine vaccines may soon become inaccessible or unaffordable for millions of Americans if ACIP makes changes based on ideology rather than science,' Chrissie Juliano, executive director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, said during the public comment section. 'The stakes are simply too high to let that happen.'
Others criticized vaccine mandates and medical exemption restrictions.
'With many new members in place, the ACIP must now act to prevent continued harm,' said Kim Mack Rosenberg, general counsel for Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy.
The planned vote on a new shot for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, was postponed due to time constraints.
The ACIP meeting was held despite a national outcry from health experts, officials and organizations calling for a delay.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and physician, urged officials to wait until the panel is 'fully staffed with more robust and balanced representation – as required by law – including those with more direct relevant experience.'
'Although the appointees to ACIP have scientific credentials, many do not have significant experience studying microbiology, epidemiology or immunology,' Cassidy, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, said in a social media post. 'In particular, some lack experience studying new technologies such as mRNA vaccines, and may even have a preconceived bias against them.'
Contributing: Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY.
Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at [e-mail].