Latest news with #VACCINECoronavirusCOVID-19
The Star
4 days ago
- General
- The Star
Exclusive-CDC expert resigns from COVID vaccines advisory role, sources say
FILE PHOTO: Vials labelled "VACCINE Coronavirus COVID-19" and a syringe are seen in front of a displayed U.S. flag in this illustration taken December 11, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo (Reuters) -Pediatric infectious disease expert Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos of the U.S. CDC resigned on Tuesday as co-leader of a 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 who oversees the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, said the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women had been removed from the CDC's recommended immunization schedule. The move was a departure from the 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 foreveryone aged six months and older, following the guidance ofthe 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." 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. (Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago, Michael Erman in New York and Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)
Express Tribune
5 days ago
- General
- Express Tribune
US CDC COVID vaccine advisor Dr. Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos resigns: Reuters
Vials labelled "VACCINE Coronavirus COVID-19" and a syringe are seen in front of a displayed U.S. flag in this illustration taken December 11, 2021. Photo:REUTER Listen to article Pediatric infectious disease expert Dr Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos of the US CDC resigned on Tuesday as co-leader of a working group that advises outside experts on COVID-19 vaccines and is leaving the agency, said two sources familiar with the move. 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 US 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 who oversees the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, said the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women had been removed from the CDC's recommended immunization schedule. The move was a departure from the 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 six 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." 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.
Express Tribune
28-05-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
RFK Jr. halts routine COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women, children
Vials labelled "VACCINE Coronavirus COVID-19" and a syringe are seen in front of a displayed U.S. flag in this illustration taken December 11, 2021. PHOTO:REUTERS Listen to article The US has stopped recommending routine COVID-19 vaccinations for pregnant women and healthy children, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced in a social media post on Tuesday, circumventing the CDC's traditional recommendation process. Kennedy, FDA commissioner Marty Makary and National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya said in a video that the shots have been removed from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's recommended immunization schedule. The changes come a week after they unveiled tighter requirements for COVID shots, effectively limiting them to older adults and those at risk of developing severe illness. ‼️🇺🇸 BREAKING: Robert Kennedy Jr announces C0V1D VACC1NE for healthy CHILDREN and healthy PREGNANT WOMEN has been REMOVED from the CDC web page recommended IMMUNIZATION SCHEDULE. 😎 This is a BIG WIN for our children! 🇺🇸 — Diligent Denizen 🇺🇸 (@DiligentDenizen) May 27, 2025 Traditionally, the CDC's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices would meet and vote on changes to the immunization schedule or recommendations on who should get vaccines before the director of the CDC made a final call. READ: Asia sees fresh spike in Covid-19 cases The committee has not voted on these changes. Kennedy, a long-time vaccine skeptic whose department oversees the CDC, has been remaking the US health system to align with President Donald Trump's goal of dramatically shrinking the federal government. Turned upsidedown "The recommendation is coming down from the secretary, so the process has just been turned upside down," said William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a consultant to the ACIP. Schaffner said the CDC's panel was to vote on these issues at a June meeting, where he had expected them to favor more targeted shots instead of a universal vaccine recommendation. "But this seems to be a bit preemptory," he said. Dorit Reiss, professor of law at UC Law San Francisco, said in a Facebook post that going around the advisory committee might hurt the agency in the case of potential litigation. READ MORE: WHO adopts pandemic accord without US as RFK Jr. confirms Washington's withdrawal Studies with hundreds of thousands of people around the world show that COVID-19 vaccination before and during pregnancy is safe, effective, and beneficial to both the pregnant woman and the baby, according to the CDC's website. But Makary said in the video that there was no evidence that healthy children need routine COVID shots. Most countries have stopped recommending it for children, he added. COVID vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer did not respond to requests for comment. Dr. Cody Meissner, professor of pediatrics at Dartmouth, who co-wrote an editorial with Makary during the COVID pandemic against masks for children, said he agreed with the decision. He said he felt the US had been overemphasizing the importance of the COVID vaccine for young children and pregnant women, and that previous recommendations were based on politics, adding that the severity of the illness generated by the virus seems to have lessened over time in young children.
