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Reuters
4 days ago
- General
- Reuters
Exclusive: CDC official resigns from COVID vaccine committee advisory role, sources say
June 3 (Reuters) - Pediatric infectious disease expert Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos resigned on Tuesday as co-leader of a U.S. CDC working group that advises outside experts on COVID-19 vaccines and is leaving the agency, two sources familiar with the move told Reuters. Panagiotakopoulos said in an email to work group colleagues that her decision to step down was based on the belief she is "no longer able to help the most vulnerable members" of the U.S. population. In her role at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's working group of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, she co-led the gathering of information on topics for presentation. Her resignation comes one week after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-time vaccine skeptic, said the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women had been removed from the CDC's recommended immunization schedule. Kennedy oversees the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health as leader of the Department of Health and Human Services. The move was a departure from the usual process in which ACIP experts meet and vote on changes to the immunization schedule or recommendations on who should get vaccines before the agency's director made a final call. The committee had not voted on the changes announced by Kennedy and the CDC does not yet have a permanent director. Two days after Kennedy's announcement, the CDC published a vaccine schedule online saying that COVID-19 vaccines remain an option for healthy children aged 6 months to 17 years when parents and doctors agree that it is needed. It had previously recommended updated COVID vaccines for everyone aged 6 months and older, following the guidance of the panel of outside experts. Two sources said Panagiotakopoulos did not include a specific reason for her departure. Panagiotakopoulos did not return requests for comment. "Unfortunately for me, this is a personal decision," Panagiotakopoulos wrote in an email to members of the working group that was read to Reuters by a source who received it. "My career in public health and vaccinology started with a deep-seated desire to help the most vulnerable members of our population, and that is not something I am able to continue doing in this role," she wrote. The committee is scheduled to meet on June 25-27 and is expected to deliberate and vote on recommendations for use of COVID-19 vaccines, according to one of the sources who was not authorized to speak publicly. In its last ACIP meeting on April 15-16, Panagiotakopoulos presented data to the panel on Moderna's (MRNA.O), opens new tab COVID-19 vaccine and potential options for the 2025-26 vaccination schedule. Those include maintaining the current broad policy or narrowing recommendations for certain populations. The working group had been leaning toward narrowing use of the vaccine, the source familiar with the group's discussions said. But, the source added, the experts likely would recommend broader use for certain at-risk populations, including very young children and pregnant women who are at high risk of COVID complications. A positive, broad recommendation for these groups sends a stronger message to providers and insurance companies that these populations should be vaccinated, and such vaccines should be covered for those uses, the source said. Two sources said the working group is continuing to meet despite last week's surprise changes in the immunization schedule, and is preparing to make recommendations to the full group of ACIP advisers at their upcoming meeting.
Reuters
23-04-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Vaccine-wary Slovak PM pauses COVID-19 shot purchases pending review
April 23 (Reuters) - The Slovak government halted purchases of COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday pending a review of their safety by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Prime Minister Robert Fico said. Fico, a populist who has himself declined coronavirus vaccination, has long criticised the COVID policies of the previous governments, including vaccination campaigns before his return to power in 2023. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here. Fico told a televised briefing that based on a 2023 agreement signed by a previous administration, Slovakia was still due to receive 300,000 more vaccine doses for around 5.7 million euros ($6.48 million). He did not name the suppliers. "We have an expert opinion from a registered expert that the vaccines used in Slovakia contained enormously high levels of DNA and substances which the producer did not show in the packaging material," Fico told a news conference. "Therefore the decision to not take or pay temporarily (for the remaining vaccines) until we have more information is right," he said. The cabinet's decision to pause vaccine purchases followed a recommendation by vaccine opponent Peter Kotlar, the government's envoy in charge of reviewing pandemic policies. Kotlar has claimed, without evidence, that vaccines based on mRNA technology were not safe and called on the government to stop inoculations. Producers of mRNA vaccines Moderna (MRNA.O), opens new tab and Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Slovak drug regulator SUKL last month sharply criticised Kotlar's views, saying they were unscientific and dangerous, and said it was considering filing a criminal complaint for spreading panic. The main Slovak opposition party, Progressive Slovakia, said Fico was using Kotlar's "conspiratory delusions" to distract attention from his government's policy failures. Fico has repeatedly doubted the benefits of COVID-19 vaccinations, and organised a protest that went against lockdown rules during the pandemic. ($1 = 0.8794 euros)
Reuters
28-02-2025
- Health
- Reuters
UK health regulator approves Moderna's RSV vaccine for adults aged 60 and older
Feb 28 (Reuters) - Britain's health regulator said on Friday it has approved Moderna's (MRNA.O), opens new tab vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus in adults 60 years and older. The shot, branded as mRESVIA, is for the prevention of lower respiratory tract disease in older adults, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said. RSV is a common virus that spreads very easily and causes infections that can be mild, with cold-like symptoms, but can also cause more serious problems, such as lung infections and pneumonia. Older adults are at risk of more serious complications that could lead to hospital admission and even death. GSK's (GSK.L), opens new tab vaccine Arexvy and Pfizer's shot Abrysvo are approved for use in individuals over the age of 60 in the UK. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here.
Reuters
27-02-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Trump administration weighs pulling funding for Moderna bird flu vaccine, Bloomberg News reports
Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. health officials are reevaluating a $590 million contract that was awarded to Moderna (MRNA.O), opens new tab for the development of its bird flu vaccine, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing sources. Shares of the vaccine maker fell 5.5% in after-market trading. The review is part of a government push to examine spending on messenger RNA-based vaccines, the technology that powered Moderna's Covid vaccine, the report added. The U.S. government awarded Moderna $590 million in January to advance the development of its bird flu vaccine. This was in addition to the $176 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last year to complete the late-stage development and testing of a pre-pandemic mRNA-based vaccine against the H5N1 avian influenza. "While it is crucial that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services support pandemic preparedness, four years of Biden administration's failed oversight have made it necessary to review agreements for vaccine production," an HHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement, without specifying a review of Moderna's contract. Last month, Moderna said it was preparing to advance its experimental shot, mRNA-1018, into late-stage trials based on preliminary data from an early-to-mid-stage study and plans to present the data at an upcoming medical meeting. Moderna did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The U.S. will invest up to $1 billion to combat the spread of bird flu, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said earlier on Wednesday. A three-year bird flu outbreak in U.S. poultry has killed 166 million chickens since 2022, according to USDA data. The virus has also infected nearly 1,000 dairy herds and almost 70 people, including one who died, since early 2024. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that it believes the immediate risk to the general public from H5 bird flu remains low. The agency added that, to date, person-to-person spread of H5 bird flu has not been identified.
