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Straits Times
a day ago
- Health
- Straits Times
Covid-19 shots for kids still recommended by US paediatric group in break with CDC
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The group said it recommends the Covid-19 shot for children ages 6 to 23 months. WASHINGTON – The American Academy of Paediatrics updated its recommendations for immunisations on Aug 19, including calling for Covid-19 shots for healthy kids, diverging from controversial advice from the federal government. The group said it recommends the Covid-19 shot for children ages 6 to 23 months. Earlier in 2025, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr changed advice that had been in place since the pandemic, saying healthy kids and pregnant women should not receive the vaccine. AAP has released its own recommendations since the 1930s. The group broke from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in 2025 after Mr Kennedy replaced the members of an influential vaccine panel with people who have spread misinformation around vaccines. The revamped Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices – or Acip – said it would reevaluate the childhood immunisation schedule at a meeting in June. Mr Kennedy's moves around vaccines have raised concern among public health experts, who have warned lifesaving shots could become harder to access. In response, medical groups have taken additional steps to publicise their vaccine guidelines and have urged insurers to cover shots they recommend. 'The AAP will continue to provide recommendations for immunisations that are rooted in science and are in the best interest of the health of infants, children and adolescents,' AAP President Susan Kressly said in a statement. HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in response to the new schedule that the group 'is undermining national immunisation policymaking with baseless political attacks.' He added it should remove 'conflict-of-interest safeguards and keep its publications free from financial influence,' without further elaborating. AAP said it had no conflicts of interest and has been making vaccine recommendations longer than Acip has existed. In May, the CDC updated its website to say healthy children 'may receive Covid-19 vaccination, informed by the clinical judgment of a health-care provider.' Previously, it recommended everyone 6 months or older get vaccinated. In its schedule, AAP also removed a hepatitis vaccine that is no longer available, and recommended children under 8 months old receive the RSV vaccine. It called for influenza shots for children as young as 6 months ahead of the flu season. Kids between 9 and 12 years old should receive the human papillomavirus vaccine, up from the previous recommendation of a starting dose at 11 years, according to the new guidelines. The changes in vaccination schedules comes as confusion mounts for parents. Acip decides which shots will be covered by insurance companies or federally funded through the Vaccines for Children Programme. By breaking with Acip, questions remain on which shots will be covered by insurance or readily available in clinics. 'The AAP urges every insurer to cover all the vaccines that are included in this immunisation schedule,' Ms Kressly said. A new group formed after Mr Kennedy revamped Acip is also trying to guide which shots are recommended. The Vaccine Integrity Project, led by University of Minnesota researchers and public health officials, gathered existing data on vaccines for Covid-19, RSV and flu shots and presented their findings on Aug 19 to professional societies, such as AAP, to help the organisations to develop their schedules. There are limitations in the data that the researchers were able to analyse. The Vaccine Integrity Project wasn't able to look at unpublished vaccine trial data or ongoing trials, and only analysed data presented to Acip in the past or peer reviewed, published literature. The group found no safety concerns over pregnant women taking the Covid-19 vaccine and that the shot was effective in preventing hospitalisations for children. Dr Jake Scott, an infectious disease specialist at Stanford University, said the group's work is ongoing. BLOOMBERG
TimesLIVE
20-06-2025
- Health
- TimesLIVE
Kennedy's new US vaccine panel to discuss measles shot for children
A new panel of US vaccine advisers appointed by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr will vote on flu shots that contain a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal and discuss recommendations for use of a combination measles shot for children at an upcoming meeting. The advisers to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will also vote on who should receive the shots for respiratory syncytial virus and influenza at the meeting scheduled for June 25 and 26, according to a draft agenda posted on the CDC's website. The agenda comes days after Kennedy named eight members to serve on the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices (Acip), including several who have advocated against vaccines, after abruptly firing all 17 members of the independent committee of experts. 'There isn't any doubt that we're in new territory and things are being done differently than they were before,' said William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and an alternate liaison to Acip. Schaffner said it would be a shorter meeting than planned, a more limited number of CDC personnel are scheduled to present at the meeting and a number of presenters have not yet been listed. The new panel will discuss proposed recommendations on the use of the combination measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) vaccine for children under five years of age.
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First Post
16-06-2025
- Health
- First Post
Kennedy's vaccine shake-up could leave Trump's America pay the price
US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has undone decades of progress in researching and popularising vaccines. Within months, he has ended vaccine research programmes, cut fundings for vaccine outreach efforts, ended vaccine recommendations, and threatened mass-access to affordable vaccines. read more US Secretary of Health Robert F Kennedy Jr promised to make America healthy again, but his actions are laying groundwork for an unhealthy future. With every decision, Kennedy has added to the anti-vaccine sentiment in the United States and made vaccines inaccessible by taking decisions that are not just likely going to increase costs but also affect availability. During his Senate confirmation, Kennedy had said that he supported vaccines, but he has pandered to the anti-vaccine movement that is quite popular among the far-right 'Make America Great Again' movement of US President Donald Trump. He has not just falsely linked vaccines to autism but has also ended the recommendation that pregnant persons and healthy children should get Covid-19 vaccines. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Kennedy threatens mass access to vaccines with one move Kennedy has fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (Acip) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) and replaced them with handpicked vaccine skeptics who share his views. For decades, Acip has recommended which vaccines Americans should get and when. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), all insurance companies are required to provide all vaccines for free that are recommended by Acip. With vaccine skeptics at the helm, free access to vaccines is no longer assured, meaning that many Americans could see vaccines becomes expensive. 'If we have a system that has been dismantled — one that allowed for open, evidence-based decision-making and that supported transparent and clear dialogue about vaccines — and then we replace it with a process that's driven largely by one person's beliefs, that creates a system that cannot be trusted,' said Helen Chu, one of the ousted Acip member and a professor of infectious disease at the University of Washington School of Medicine, as per The Hill. Once free vaccine mandate from Acip recommendation is no longer there, Covid-19 vaccine could cost up to $150, the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine could cost anywhere between $95 and $280, and the HPV vaccine could cost more than $300. In the coming days, new Acip members are scheduled to hold votes on recommendations for vaccines for Covid-19, meningococcal, HPV, flu, and RSV for adults and maternal and pediatric populations, according to The Hill. Many ways Kennedy is undermining vaccines Kennedy has taken following actions that undermine vaccines: The cancellation of National Institutes of Health (NIH) programmes for the discovery of new vaccines to prevent future pandemics. The end of CDC's advertising campaign for flu vaccines. The cutting of billions of dollars to state health agencies, including for the modernisation of childhood vaccination.
Saudi Gazette
10-06-2025
- Health
- Saudi Gazette
RFK Jr sacks entire US vaccine committee
WASHINGTON — US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine sceptic, has removed all 17 members of a committee that issues official government recommendations on immunizations. Announcing the move in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy said that conflicts of interest on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (Acip) were responsible for undermining trust in vaccinations. Kennedy said he wanted to "ensure the American people receive the safest vaccines possible." Doctors and health experts have criticised Kennedy's longstanding questioning of the safety and efficacy of a number of vaccines, although in his Senate confirmation hearing he said he is "not going to take them away." On Monday he said he was "retiring" all of the Acip panel members. Eight of the 17 panelists were appointed in January 2025, in the last days of President Biden's term. Most of the members are practicing doctors and experts attached to major university medical noted that if he did not remove the committee members, President Trump would not have been able to appoint a majority on the panel until 2028."The committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine," Kennedy claimed that health authorities and drug companies were responsible for a "crisis of public trust" that some try to explain "by blaming misinformation or antiscience attitudes."In the editorial, Kennedy cited examples from the 1990s and 2000s and alleged that conflicts of interest persist."Most of ACIP's members have received substantial funding from pharmaceutical companies, including those marketing vaccines," he wrote in the Wall Street move appears contrary to assurances Kennedy gave during his confirmation hearings. Bill Cassidy, a Republican Senator from Louisiana who is also a doctor, reported that he received commitments from the health secretary that Acip would be maintained "without changes."On Monday, Cassidy wrote on X: "Of course, now the fear is that the Acip will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion."I've just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I'll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case."Acip members are required to disclose conflicts of interest, which are posted online, and to recuse themselves from voting on decisions where they may have a conflict."The problem isn't necessarily that ACIP members are corrupt," Kennedy wrote. "Most likely aim to serve the public interest as they understand it."The problem is their immersion in a system of industry-aligned incentives and paradigms that enforce a narrow pro-industry orthodoxy."Dr Bruce Scott, president of the American Medical Association, a professional organisation for American doctors, said mass sacking "upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives.""With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses," Dr Scott said in a did not say who he would appoint to replace the board members. Acip has a meeting scheduled starting 25 June, at which members are scheduled to vote on recommendations for vaccines for Covid, flu, meningococcal disease, RSV and other BBC contacted the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Acip chair, Dr Helen Keipp Talbot, for comment. — BBC
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr sacks entire US vaccine committee
US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine sceptic, has removed all 17 members of a committee that issues official government recommendations on immunisations. Announcing the move in an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy said that conflicts of interest on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (Acip) were responsible for undermining trust in vaccinations. Kennedy said he wanted to "ensure the American people receive the safest vaccines possible." Doctors and health experts have criticised Kennedy's longstanding questioning of the safety and efficacy of a number of vaccines, although in his Senate confirmation hearing he said he is "not going to take them away." On Monday he said he was "retiring" all of the Acip panel members. Eight of the 17 panellists were appointed in January 2025, in the last days of President Biden's term. Most of the members are practicing doctors and experts attached to major university medical centres. Kennedy noted that if he did not remove the committee members, President Trump would not have been able to appoint a majority on the panel until 2028. "The committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine," Kennedy wrote. He claimed that health authorities and drug companies were responsible for a "crisis of public trust" that some try to explain "by blaming misinformation or antiscience attitudes." In the editorial, Kennedy cited examples from the 1990s and 2000s and alleged that conflicts of interest persist. "Most of ACIP's members have received substantial funding from pharmaceutical companies, including those marketing vaccines," he wrote in the Wall Street Journal. The move appears contrary to assurances Kennedy gave during his confirmation hearings. Bill Cassidy, a Republican Senator from Louisiana who is also a doctor, reported that he received commitments from the health secretary that Acip would be maintained "without changes." On Monday, Cassidy wrote on X: "Of course, now the fear is that the Acip will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion. "I've just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I'll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case." Acip members are required to disclose conflicts of interest, which are posted online, and to recuse themselves from voting on decisions where they may have a conflict. "The problem isn't necessarily that ACIP members are corrupt," Kennedy wrote. "Most likely aim to serve the public interest as they understand it. "The problem is their immersion in a system of industry-aligned incentives and paradigms that enforce a narrow pro-industry orthodoxy." Dr Bruce Scott, president of the American Medical Association, a professional organisation for American doctors, said mass sacking "upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives." "With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses," Dr Scott said in a statement. Kennedy did not say who he would appoint to replace the board members. Acip has a meeting scheduled starting 25 June, at which members are scheduled to vote on recommendations for vaccines for Covid, flu, meningococcal disease, RSV and other illnesses. The BBC contacted the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Acip chair, Dr Helen Keipp Talbot, for comment. Fact-checking RFK Jr's views on health policy The two faces of Robert F Kennedy Jr
