The primary assembly of a Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory committee since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as Well being and Human Providers (HHS) secretary has been postponed, the division confirmed.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was set to satisfy Feb. 26-28 to debate and vote on a number of vaccine points, together with suggestions for the use of a meningitis vaccine in infants and new suggestions on influenza and RSV vaccines.
There was no time-frame given for when the assembly can be rescheduled.
“The ACIP meeting will be postponed to accommodate public comment in advance of the meeting,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon stated in an e mail. “The ACIP workgroups met as scheduled this month and will present at the upcoming ACIP meeting.”
The ACIP convenes 3 times a yr to advise the CDC on vaccine points, however the company doesn’t must comply with the suggestions. Nevertheless, if the CDC director indicators off on the panel’s suggestions, ACIP-recommended vaccines have to be coated by medical insurance.
ACIP members aren’t authorities staff. The panel contains as much as 18 voting members representing scientific medical fields in addition to public well being professionals and at the very least one shopper consultant.
Members of the general public can submit feedback on-line by way of an official portal for 2 weeks forward of the assembly, in addition to register for a lottery to make feedback reside throughout the assembly. However the on-line portal was by no means activated, leaving the general public unable to submit feedback.
The postponement comes amid rising fears concerning the panel’s future beneath an HHS led by Kennedy, one of many nation’s most outstanding anti-vaccine activists. Kennedy and his allies have lengthy alleged ACIP members are corrupting HHS’s analysis priorities by way of conflicts of curiosity, and through his affirmation listening to he pledged to root out conflicts of curiosity.
An govt order issued by President Trump on Wednesday additionally targets federal advisory committees for overview and potential termination “on [the] grounds that they are unnecessary,” together with ACIP.
As of early Thursday afternoon, ACIP members weren’t notified of any modifications to the assembly schedule, in accordance with Dr. H. Keipp Talbot, the panel’s chair.
The Partnership to Combat Infectious Illness and 50 medical organizations and specialists, together with the American Medical Affiliation, despatched a letter to Kennedy and appearing CDC Director Susan Monarez urging them to reschedule the assembly as quickly as potential.
“Making America healthy requires healthy discussion and timely, evidence-based decisions. This meeting should be no different,” they wrote. “Rescheduling this critical meeting … would represent a meaningful early follow-through from the Trump administration and its new HHS Secretary to ensure Americans receive the information needed to protect themselves against vaccine-preventable illnesses, confirming immunization’s importance in the mission to make America healthier.”