Latest news with #AdvisoryCommitteeonImmunizationPractices'
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Key vaccine committee meets for the first time under Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
ATLANTA (AP) — A key vaccine advisory committee met for the first time under new U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading voice in the U.S. anti-vaccine movement. Tuesday's meeting was, to some extent, business as usual, though with a major question looming: Who would evaluate the committee's recommendations? The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' two-day meeting took up vaccine policy questions that had been put on hold when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services abruptly postponed the panel's February meeting. 'It will be striking' if the meeting is routine, given 'signals and alarms' that suggest changes and perhaps reductions in federal vaccination efforts, said Jason Schwartz, a Yale University health policy researcher who studies government health agencies. But Tuesday's meeting started fairly routine, with most members joining through a webcast. They discussed an mpox vaccine and how the winter flu and COVID-19 seasons were going. CDC official asks about COVID-19 vaccines The conversation took a turn when a CDC official summarized a committee workgroup discussion about the waning COVID-19 pandemic, and asked whether the panel might consider changing vaccination recommendations. For example, instead of recommending seasonal shots for all Americans 6 months and older, should the recommendations be more focused — at least for certain age groups — on people with chronic illnesses or otherwise at higher risk? 'I guess I am surprised we're considering a risk-based recommendation," said committee member Dr. Denise Jamieson, dean of the University of Iowa's medical school. She worried it will be harder to implement, and may cause more headaches for patients who want to get shots and have them covered by insurance. Dr. Jamie Loehr, a family medicine doctor in Itasca, New York, said he is in favor of a risk-based recommendation but also worried about feasibility and the message it would send. 'COVID is still a fairly dangerous disease and very very common,' he said. "We are not talking about 10 cases of mpox. We are talking about thousands of hospitalizations and deaths.' A vote on the idea could come at the next committee meeting, scheduled for June. Who will take up the committee's recommendations? The 15-member panel of outside scientific experts, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC directors almost always approve those recommendations on how Food and Drug Administration-cleared vaccines should be used. The CDC's final recommendations are not binding, but for decades they have been widely heeded by doctors and determine the scope and funding of vaccination programs. The committee was slated to vote Wednesday afternoon on whether to make new recommendations regarding three kinds of vaccines, including one for meningitis and another to prevent a mosquito-borne illness called chikungunya. It's not clear who would decide whether to accept those recommendations. The Trump administration named Susan Monarez as acting CDC director in January, and last month picked her to lead the agency. But while she's awaiting Senate confirmation, Monarez has essentially recused herself from regular director duties because of federal law around vacancies, said two CDC officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss agency matters and feared being fired. That means any committee recommendations made Wednesday seems likely to fall to Kennedy. When an AP reporter asked an HHS spokesperson, he said he was looking into the question but did not immediately have an answer. During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kennedy told lawmakers he is not 'antivaccine.' But since taking office, he has promised to 'investigate' children's shots and to take a new look at the possibility of links between childhood vaccinations and autism — a theory that has been debunked by a number of studies, including at least a dozen that involved CDC researchers. The panel's chair, Dr. Helen Keipp Talbot of Vanderbilt University, said she didn't know who would decide whether to sign off on any recommendations. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Associated Press
15-04-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Key vaccine committee meets for the first time under Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
ATLANTA (AP) — A key vaccine advisory committee met for the first time under new U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading voice in the U.S. anti-vaccine movement. Tuesday's meeting was, to some extent, business as usual, though with a major question looming: Who would evaluate the committee's recommendations? The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' two-day meeting took up vaccine policy questions that had been put on hold when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services abruptly postponed the panel's February meeting. 'It will be striking' if the meeting is routine, given 'signals and alarms' that suggest changes and perhaps reductions in federal vaccination efforts, said Jason Schwartz, a Yale University health policy researcher who studies government health agencies. But Tuesday's meeting started fairly routine, with most members joining through a webcast. They discussed an mpox vaccine and how the winter flu and COVID-19 seasons were going. CDC official asks about COVID-19 vaccines The conversation took a turn when a CDC official summarized a committee workgroup discussion about the waning COVID-19 pandemic, and asked whether the panel might consider changing vaccination recommendations. For example, instead of recommending seasonal shots for all Americans 6 months and older, should the recommendations be more focused — at least for certain age groups — on people with chronic illnesses or otherwise at higher risk? 'I guess I am surprised we're considering a risk-based recommendation,' said committee member Dr. Denise Jamieson, dean of the University of Iowa's medical school. She worried it will be harder to implement, and may cause more headaches for patients who want to get shots and have them covered by insurance. Dr. Jamie Loehr, a family medicine doctor in Itasca, New York, said he is in favor of a risk-based recommendation but also worried about feasibility and the message it would send. 'COVID is still a fairly dangerous disease and very very common,' he said. 'We are not talking about 10 cases of mpox. We are talking about thousands of hospitalizations and deaths.' A vote on the idea could come at the next committee meeting, scheduled for June. Who will take up the committee's recommendations? The 15-member panel of outside scientific experts, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC directors almost always approve those recommendations on how Food and Drug Administration-cleared vaccines should be used. The CDC's final recommendations are not binding, but for decades they have been widely heeded by doctors and determine the scope and funding of vaccination programs. The committee was slated to vote Wednesday afternoon on whether to make new recommendations regarding three kinds of vaccines, including one for meningitis and another to prevent a mosquito-borne illness called chikungunya. It's not clear who would decide whether to accept those recommendations. The Trump administration named Susan Monarez as acting CDC director in January, and last month picked her to lead the agency. But while she's awaiting Senate confirmation, Monarez has essentially recused herself from regular director duties because of federal law around vacancies, said two CDC officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss agency matters and feared being fired. That means any committee recommendations made Wednesday seems likely to fall to Kennedy. When an AP reporter asked an HHS spokesperson, he said he was looking into the question but did not immediately have an answer. During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kennedy told lawmakers he is not 'antivaccine.' But since taking office, he has promised to 'investigate' children's shots and to take a new look at the possibility of links between childhood vaccinations and autism — a theory that has been debunked by a number of studies, including at least a dozen that involved CDC researchers. The panel's chair, Dr. Helen Keipp Talbot of Vanderbilt University, said she didn't know who would decide whether to sign off on any recommendations. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Chicago Tribune
19-02-2025
- Health
- Chicago Tribune
RFK Jr. says panel will examine childhood vaccine schedule after promising not to change it
WASHINGTON — To earn the vote he needed to become the nation's top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S. senator: He would not change the nation's current vaccination schedule. But on Tuesday, speaking for the first time to thousands of U.S. Health and Human Services agency employees, he vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases. 'Nothing is going to be off limits,' Kennedy said, adding that pesticides, food additives, microplastics, antidepressants and the electromagnetic waves emitted by cellphones and microwaves also would be studied. Kennedy's remarks, which circulated on social media, were delivered during a welcome ceremony for the new health secretary at the agency's headquarters in Washington as a measles outbreak among mostly unvaccinated people raged in West Texas. The event was held after a weekend of mass firings of thousands of HHS employees. More dismissals are expected. In his comments Tuesday, Kennedy promised that a new 'Make America Healthy Again' commission would investigate vaccines, pesticides and antidepressants to see if they have contributed to a rise in chronic illnesses such as diabetes and obesity that have plagued the American public. The commission was formed last week in an executive order by Donald Trump immediately after Kennedy was sworn in as the president's new health secretary. That directive said the commission will be made up of cabinet members and other officials from the administration and will develop a strategy around children's health within the next six months. Kennedy said it will investigate issues, including childhood vaccinations, that 'were formally taboo or insufficiently scrutinized.' While Kennedy did not directly call for changes to the vaccination schedule on Tuesday, his plan to investigate it raises questions about his commitment to Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana physician who harbored deep misgivings over the health secretary's anti-vaccine advocacy. Cassidy ultimately voted to send Kennedy's nomination to the Senate floor after he said Kennedy gave him assurances that he would not alter the federal vaccine schedule. 'On this topic, the science is good, the science is credible,' Cassidy said during a Senate floor speech earlier this month explaining his vote. 'Vaccines save lives. They are safe.' Rigorous studies of thousands of people followed by decades of real-world use have proven that the vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration for both children and adults safely and effectively prevent diseases. Cassidy said during his Senate speech last month that Kennedy had made a number of promises that stemmed from 'intense conversations' to garner his support. Specifically, Cassidy said Kennedy would 'maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' recommendations without changes.' Those recommendations are what pediatricians around the country use to decide the safest and most effective ages at which to offer vaccinations to children. The committee meets every year to review the latest data on both old and new vaccines to ensure there are no red flags for safety or other issues before publishing its annual schedule. When contacted about Kennedy's remarks, Cassidy's office did not comment. Kennedy gained a loyal following for his nonprofit by raising objections to COVID-19 protocols and doubts around the COVID-19 vaccine. Despite his work, Kennedy repeatedly told senators that he was not 'anti-vaccine' during his confirmation hearings. Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious-disease expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who sits on a federal vaccine panel, didn't believe him. 'I think he will do everything he can to make vaccines less available and less affordable because he's an anti-vaccine activist,' Offit, who developed the rotavirus vaccine that is on the CDC's childhood immunization schedule, said last week. Kennedy promised staffers on Tuesday during his speech that he would keep an open mind in his new job and asked them to return the favor. 'A lot of times when I read these articles characterizing myself, I think I wouldn't want to work for that guy, either,' Kennedy said, eliciting some laughs from the crowd. 'Let's start a relationship by letting go of any preconceived perceptions you may have of me.'
Los Angeles Times
18-02-2025
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
Kennedy says panel will examine childhood vaccine schedule after promising not to change it
WASHINGTON — To earn the vote he needed to become the nation's top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S. senator: He would not change the nation's current vaccination schedule. But on Tuesday, speaking for the first time to thousands of U.S. Health and Human Services agency employees, he vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases. 'Nothing is going to be off limits,' Kennedy said, adding that pesticides, food additives, microplastics, antidepressants and the electromagnetic waves emitted by cellphones and microwaves also would be studied. Kennedy's remarks, which circulated on social media, were delivered during a welcome ceremony for the new health secretary at the agency's headquarters in Washington as a measles outbreak among mostly unvaccinated people raged in west Texas. The event was held after a weekend of mass firings of thousands of Health and Human Services employees. More dismissals are expected. In his comments Tuesday, Kennedy promised that a new 'Make America Healthy Again' commission would investigate vaccines, pesticides and antidepressants to see if they have contributed to a rise in chronic illnesses such as diabetes and obesity that have plagued the American public. The commission was formed last week in an executive order by President Trump immediately after Kennedy was sworn in as the nation's new health secretary. That directive said the commission will be made up of Cabinet members and other officials from the administration and will develop a strategy around children's health within the next six months. Kennedy said it will investigate issues, including childhood vaccinations, that 'were formally taboo or insufficiently scrutinized.' Though Kennedy did not directly call for changes to the vaccination schedule on Tuesday, his plan to investigate it raises questions about his commitment to Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana physician who harbored deep misgivings over the health secretary's anti-vaccine advocacy. Cassidy ultimately voted to send Kennedy's nomination to the Senate floor after he said Kennedy gave him assurances that he would not alter the federal vaccine schedule. 'On this topic, the science is good, the science is credible,' Cassidy said during a Senate floor speech this month explaining his vote. 'Vaccines save lives. They are safe.' Rigorous studies of thousands of people followed by decades of real-world use have proved that the vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration for both children and adults safely and effectively prevent diseases. Cassidy said during his Senate speech that Kennedy had made a number of promises that stemmed from 'intense conversations' to receive his support. Specifically, Cassidy said Kennedy would 'maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' recommendations without changes.' Those recommendations are what pediatricians around the country use to decide the safest and most effective ages at which to offer vaccinations to children. The committee meets every year to review the latest data on both old and new vaccines to ensure there are no red flags for safety or other issues before publishing its annual schedule. When contacted about Kennedy's remarks, Cassidy's office did not comment. Kennedy gained a loyal following for his nonprofit by raising objections to COVID-19 protocols and doubts around the COVID-19 vaccine. Despite his work, Kennedy repeatedly told senators that he was not 'anti-vaccine' during his confirmation hearings. Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious-disease expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who sits on a federal vaccine panel, didn't believe him. 'I think he will do everything he can to make vaccines less available and less affordable because he's an anti-vaccine activist,' Offit, who developed the rotavirus vaccine that is on the CDC's childhood immunization schedule, said last week. Kennedy promised staffers on Tuesday during his speech that he would keep an open mind in his new job and asked them to return the favor. 'A lot of times when I read these articles characterizing myself, I think I wouldn't want to work for that guy, either,' Kennedy said, eliciting some laughs from the crowd. 'Let's start a relationship by letting go of any preconceived perceptions you may have of me.' Seitz writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Matthew Perrone and Lauran Neergaard in Washington contributed to this report.
The Independent
18-02-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Kennedy says panel will examine childhood vaccine schedule after promising not to change it
To earn the vote he needed to become the nation's top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S. senator: He would not change the nation's current vaccination schedule. But on Tuesday, speaking for the first time to thousands of U.S. Health and Human Services agency employees, he vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases. 'Nothing is going to be off limits,' Kennedy said, adding that pesticides, food additives, microplastics, antidepressants and the electromagnetic waves emitted by cellphones and microwaves also would be studied. Kennedy's remarks, which circulated on social media, were delivered during a welcome ceremony for the new health secretary at the agency's headquarters in Washington as a measles outbreak among mostly unvaccinated people raged in West Texas. The event was held after a weekend of mass firings of thousands of HHS employees. More dismissals are expected. In his comments Tuesday, Kennedy promised that a new 'Make America Healthy Again' commission would investigate vaccines, pesticides and antidepressants to see if they have contributed to a rise in chronic illnesses such as diabetes and obesity that have plagued the American public. The commission was formed last week in an executive order by Donald Trump immediately after Kennedy was sworn in as the president's new health secretary. That directive said the commission will be made up of cabinet members and other officials from the administration and will develop a strategy around children's health within the next six months. Kennedy said it will investigate issues, including childhood vaccinations, that 'were formally taboo or insufficiently scrutinized." His call to examine the vaccination schedule raises questions about his commitment to Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana physician who harbored deep misgivings over the health secretary's anti-vaccine advocacy. Cassidy ultimately voted to send Kennedy's nomination to the Senate floor after he said Kennedy gave him assurances that he would not alter the federal vaccine schedule. 'On this topic, the science is good, the science is credible," Cassidy said during a Senate floor speech earlier this month explaining his vote. " Vaccines save lives. They are safe.' Rigorous studies of thousands of people followed by decades of real-world use have proven that the vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration for both children and adults safely and effectively prevent diseases. Cassidy said during his Senate speech last month that Kennedy had made a number of promises that stemmed from 'intense conversations" to garner his support. Specifically, Cassidy said Kennedy would "maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' recommendations without changes.' Those recommendations are what pediatricians around the country use to decide the safest and most effective ages at which to offer vaccinations to children. The committee meets every year to review the latest data on both old and new vaccines to ensure there are no red flags for safety or other issues before publishing its annual schedule. When contacted about Kennedy's remarks, Cassidy's office did not comment. Kennedy gained a loyal following for his nonprofit by raising objections to COVID-19 protocols and doubts around the COVID-19 vaccine. Despite his work, Kennedy repeatedly told senators that he was not 'anti-vaccine" during his confirmation hearings. Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious-disease expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia who sits on a federal vaccine panel, didn't believe him. 'I think he will do everything he can to make vaccines less available and less affordable because he's an anti-vaccine activist,' Offit, who developed the rotavirus vaccine that is on the CDC's childhood immunization schedule, said last week. Kennedy promised staffers on Tuesday during his speech that he would keep an open mind in his new job and asked them to return the favor. 'A lot of times when I read these articles characterizing myself, I think I wouldn't want to work for that guy, either,' Kennedy said, eliciting some laughs from the crowd. 'Let's start a relationship by letting go of any preconceived perceptions you may have of me.' ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Perrone and Lauran Neergaard in Washington contributed to this report. — The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
