HHS revives task force on childhood vaccine safety
HHS said in a statement that it is reinstating the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, which disbanded in 1998, 'to improve the safety, quality, and oversight of vaccines administered to American children.'
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, will be chairman. Other members of the task force will include Susan Monarez, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Marty Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson. Nixon said additional members will be announced in the future.
Dr. Howard Koh, a public health professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said: 'Everyone wants childhood vaccines to be as safe as possible. But reviving this panel now must be put in the context of recent HHS actions.'
Many public health experts have accused HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of pursuing an aggressive anti-vaccine agenda as health secretary. Since he assumed office in February, he has cut $2 billion from a program that supports vaccines for vulnerable children, downplayed the importance of measles vaccines amid a record-breaking outbreak and cut $500 million in contracts for mRNA vaccine research.
In June, Kennedy fired members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) — medical and public health experts who make recommendations to the CDC about who should get certain vaccines — and replaced them with well-known vaccine skeptics or critics of Covid vaccines. The new committee chair, Martin Kulldorff, said the committee will form two work groups, one to scrutinize the childhood vaccination schedule and another to re-evaluate vaccines that haven't been reviewed in more than seven years.
The Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines was formed in 1986 as part of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which aimed to compensate the small number of children who had adverse reactions to vaccines and address growing threats of litigation over vaccine injuries.
A lawsuit filed in May claims Kennedy violated the 1986 act by failing to establish a task force dedicated to making childhood vaccines safer. The suit is funded by Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group Kennedy founded. Mary Holland, the group's CEO, praised Kennedy on Thursday for fulfilling his obligation.
'At last the Secretary is following the law on this critical issue. We are grateful,' Holland said in a statement on X.
The task force will work closely with the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines, which provides recommendations to the HHS secretary about how to implement a national compensation program for childhood vaccine injuries. According to HHS, the groups will give regular advice about how to improve adverse reaction reporting and develop childhood vaccines that result in fewer and less serious adverse reactions.
Vaccine injuries are extremely rare, and the United States has robust systems for detecting adverse reactions, including the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, Vaccine Safety Datalink and V-safe. Before vaccines ever reach the market, clinical trials look for safety concerns and pause if any major issues arise. Then independent advisory committees to the FDA and the CDC evaluate the safety data and issue recommendations about which vaccines to approve and who should get them.
But Kennedy has repeatedly said the federal government isn't doing enough to monitor for vaccine side effects.
'At least once a week, he comes up with a new zinger seeking to discredit vaccines, and it's very dangerous,' said Dr. Peter Hotez, a co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.
Hotez said it's unclear why Kennedy would revive a task force on childhood vaccine safety, given that the current system has a proven track record of picking up on rare adverse events.
'What's the point now, other than he'll use it as a bully pulpit to push his MAHA, anti-vaccine agenda? That's the worry,' Hotez said.
'Who's he going to put on this committee?' he added. 'Will it be like ACIP, where he starts to stack it with anti-vaccine activists?'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
Kennedy's latest vaccine-related move
Driving the Day IT'S BACK — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday that HHS is reinstating the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, which disbanded in 1998. The decision comes months after a group he once led sued to bring back the panel. The Children's Health Defense, which Kennedy founded, filed a lawsuit in May against Kennedy over his failure to reconstitute the task force. Kennedy founded CHD years before he launched his presidential campaign in 2023, before dropping out and endorsing President Donald Trump's campaign. The move is the latest in a string of decisions by Kennedy and his department, seemingly aligned with some of the goals of the anti-vaccine movement. Here are others: ACIP overhaul: In June, Kennedy fired the panel that votes on changes to the childhood and adult vaccine schedules, replacing them with new members more closely aligned with his more vaccine-skeptical views. The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has long drawn the ire of anti-vaccine activists and groups, many of which have argued that the panel's members had conflicts of interest. ACIP members were already required to follow transparency rules and disclose potential conflicts. At the reconstituted panel's first meeting the same month, the new members voted to stop recommending that anyone get a flu vaccine containing thimerosal. The CDC website says that there is 'no evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, except for minor reactions like redness and swelling at the injection site.' But the anti-vaccine movement and Kennedy himself have long theorized that thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, causes neurological issues. The decision came after a presentation from Lyn Redwood, a former president of the CHD, who identified herself only as a 'private citizen.' Covid vaccine changes: Kennedy bucked the normal ACIP process in May, when he announced changes to the CDC's Covid-19 vaccine recommendations without first waiting for a vote from the panel, as customary. Those changes included removing the recommendation that healthy pregnant women get vaccinated and narrowing the recommendation for healthy children. Many anti-vaccine groups have argued that the Covid vaccine is unsafe for children. In 2022, CHD sued the FDA over its emergency use authorization of the shots, arguing 'defendants used this precarious emergency power to push dangerous drugs on minors.' mRNA cancellations: Kennedy announced plans last week to cancel $500 million in messenger RNA vaccine development projects — the technology used during Trump's first term amid the 'Project Warp Speed' effort to swiftly develop a Covid vaccine. Anti-vaccine groups have repeatedly argued that the technology is unsafe — arguments echoed by Kennedy in his explanation of the decision. WELCOME TO FRIDAY PULSE. TGIF. We're around halfway through August recess. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to khooper@ and sgardner@ and follow along @kelhoops and @sophie_gardnerj. Public Health PSYCH BED SHORTAGE — The number of psychiatric inpatient beds in the U.S. has dropped 97 percent since 1955 after adjusting for population change, according to a report released Thursday — and the authors say a little-known Medicaid policy is behind the trend. The report, from the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, also notes that Medicaid enrollees are more likely to need access to psychiatric beds than people with private insurance since Medicaid enrollees are 90 percent more likely to have a serious mental illness. But the report argues that access to those services has been complicated by Medicaid's so-called institutions for mental diseases exclusion. The policy prevents federal Medicaid funding to states for most services that IMDs provide, impacting Medicaid recipients seeking care in larger psychiatric hospitals. 'The amount of public disorder and violence that comes from untreated mental illness is a policy choice,' the report argues. 'There are psychiatric hospitals currently operating that could serve individuals with serious mental illnesses if doing so were financially feasible.' What's next: While the federal government has taken a variety of steps in recent years to limit the IMD exclusion, the report highlights growing momentum among lawmakers, advocacy organizations — and even the White House — for repealing the policy. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voiced support for lifting the exclusion nationwide during a congressional hearing for his confirmation earlier this year. IN THE STATES GUARDING KIDS' HEALTH ONLINE? Mississippi can enforce a law that requires online platforms with substantial pornographic content to put age-verification methods into place to restrict who accesses the material, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The justices, POLITICO's Gabby Miller reports, blocked an emergency appeal while NetChoice's challenge to Mississippi's ID law plays out in a federal trial court. The trade group, which represents Meta, YouTube and X, claims the law violates its members' free speech rights. Proponents of the law argue it's a necessary step to safeguard children's mental health. 'We are grateful for the Court's decision to leave Mississippi's law in effect while the case proceeds in a way that permits thoughtful consideration of these important issues,' MaryAsa Lee, communications director at the Mississippi attorney general's office, told POLITICO in a statement. Key context: The decision comes in the wake of a June Supreme Court ruling upholding a different age-verification law in Texas mounted by the adult entertainment industry, also on First Amendment grounds, which argued the law would restrict adult users' access to forms of online expression. NetChoice characterized Thursday's Mississippi decision as an 'unfortunate procedural delay.' Industry Intel ICYMI — Pharma giant Eli Lilly is working to raise prices on products sold in Europe as a way to bring down costs for U.S. consumers. The move by the Indiana-based drugmaker is an apparent response to President Donald Trump's request that drugmakers tie lower drug prices enjoyed by allies to those set domestically. And it comes two weeks after Trump wrote to drugmakers and demanded they embrace so-called most-favored-nation pricing or face unknown consequences. The scheme, which the president tried to implement during his first term in a regulation that courts rejected, would tie the price of a drug sold in the U.S. to its lowest price in other wealthy nations. Read Lauren's full story here. Names in the News Pharmaceutical giant Merck has promoted John Cummins to executive director, leading global media relations, policy, crisis and issue communications and enterprise social media. Cummins has been Merck's longtime director of policy communications and previously served as comms director for Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). Telehealth company Ro has added Carrianna Suiter Kuruvilla as its new senior director of government and external affairs. She was previously head of federal government relations at DoorDash. WHAT WE'RE READING STAT's Elizabeth Cooney reports on new data that shows lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of dementia. The New York Times' Pam Belluck reports on an experimental approach to treating chronic pain.
Axios
an hour ago
- Axios
RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine revolution
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made a dizzying amount of changes to federal health agencies in his first six months as HHS secretary, with yesterday's decision to revive a childhood vaccine safety panel that anti-vax groups sought being the latest in a long list. Why it matters: Kennedy has upended years of vaccine policy and cut biomedical research funding, and experts worry his revisions could result in a less vaccinated population and more disease outbreaks and deaths. "I see a potential here for the dramatic reduction in vaccine access for this country," said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. With all the rapid changes, it can be hard to track what Kennedy has done so far. Here are the actions that stand out for their impact. 1) Kennedy removed all 17 members of the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices in June, saying a "clean sweep" was necessary to "reestablish public confidence in vaccine science." Two days later, Kennedy named new members to ACIP, including some who have expressed anti-vaccine views or who signed the Great Barrington Declaration, which proposed letting COVID-19 spread among young, healthy people to reach herd immunity faster. Public health experts are concerned that the new ACIP could alter the routine infant and childhood vaccination schedule or restrict vaccines even further. 2) Kennedy straddled the line between recommending vaccinations and endorsing ineffective treatments during the Texas measles outbreak. He wrote in a Fox News op-ed that "vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity." But he included an important qualifier: "The decision to vaccinate is a personal one." Kennedy has also cited aerosolized budesonide, clarithromycin and vitamin A as "very effective" treatments for measles. There's no scientific evidence that aerosolized budesonide and clarithromycin treatments are beneficial, or that vitamin A can prevent or treat measles. 3) Kennedy announced in May that the CDC was changing its recommended immunization schedule and no longer recommending COVID shots for healthy children or pregnant women, citing a "lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children." 4. This month, Kennedy canceled $500 million in federal research contracts to develop new mRNA vaccines, in order to shift funding toward "safer, broader vaccine platforms." Scientific consensus is that mRNA vaccines are safe and effective. Scientists worry that halting research could result in fewer medical breakthroughs and less preparation for future pandemics. 5) In July, Kennedy proposed overhauling the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a federal court system that helps protect vaccine makers from liability and allows patients to receive compensation from vaccine injury claims. He could choose to change the official vaccine injury table, which could lead to more lawsuits. Or he could eliminate the court altogether, which could mean more lawsuits in the civil system and result in vaccine makers becomingliable for damages. 6) Kennedy pledged at an April Trump administration Cabinet meeting to investigate and find the root causes of autism by September, and later announced he's establishing an autism disease registry system. This is despite studies showing that increased levels of autism are likely due to improved screenings and earlier detection. Public health experts are concerned that Kennedy may still try to say there's a link between vaccines and autism, despite research showing no link. 7) HHS adopted a recommendation from the new ACIP panel to remove mercury-containing compound thimerosal from flu shots. Anti-vaccine groups have claimed thimerosal is linked to autism, though that claim has been widely discredited. The other side: "In just six months, Secretary Kennedy has taken bold, thoughtful steps to restore trust in public health and put families at the center of our decision-making," HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement. "From strengthening vaccine oversight to expanding transparency and rethinking how we respond to chronic disease, his focus has been on delivering real outcomes for the American people — guided by evidence, transparency and the public interest." What we're watching: Some public health experts are concerned that Kennedy's actions are laying the groundwork for further restrictions on vaccines, which could result in more disease outbreaks in the U.S.
Epoch Times
an hour ago
- Epoch Times
Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine May Become Unavailable for Some Children
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine may become unavailable for some children, according to an email sent to state health officials. The Food and Drug Administration, which has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the vaccine for some children, 'recently notified Pfizer of its intent to potentially NOT renew the EUA,' the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an Aug. 8 memo, a copy of which was reviewed by The Epoch Times.
