What To Expect As The New Vaccine Advisory Committee Meets This Week

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly fired all 17 members of the Center for Disease Control’s Vaccine Advisory Committee on June 9, replacing experts with decades of experience who had been carefully vetted. He said he did this to restore public trust and to avoid conflicts of interest among members. Without transparency or public health review, he replaced members with eight hand-selected controversial choices.

Notably, to gain Senator Bill Cassidy’s support for his confirmation, Kennedy had promised to maintain the CDC’s ACIP committee without changes.

What Is Lost By Purging ACIP?

The purged ACIP committee members had a deep knowledge of immunology and were experienced clinicians and/or researchers in infectious diseases, pediatrics, obstetrics and public health. Vetting is comprehensive, particularly for conflicts of interest, and can take up to two years. The committee appointments were staggered to maintain some continuity and institutional knowledge, which is now lost.

The lack of public trust Kennedy cites to justify these staggering changes is not so great. “For the past 18 years, the National Immunization Survey has shown that 99 of every 100 children in the US have received at least some recommended vaccines by 2 years of age,” according to former members of the ACIP.

Previously, ACIP made decisions about vaccines after discussing them during public meetings, with agendas and presentations available, as well as allowing for public comment.

By contrast, Kennedy recently announced on X that COVID-19 vaccinations for pregnant women (despite their high risk) and for healthy children were being removed from the Centers for Disease Control’s recommended immunizations. Both moves fly in the face of evidence.

Fiona Havers, M.D., who oversaw the data collection on COVID-19 hospitalizations, just resigned from the CDC. In April, she presented data showing that half of the children hospitalized by the virus were otherwise healthy, as were 41% of those requiring ICU care. “I no longer have confidence that these data will be used objectively or evaluated with appropriate scientific rigor to make evidence-based vaccine policy decisions,” Havers said.

What Is Likely To Happen With Vaccinations Now?

Kennedy has previously shared false information about mRNA vaccines. He has unilaterally delayed and limited COVID-19 vaccines and is demanding unethical blinded trials be done in the future. The new ACIP members could further restrict the vaccines. The most promising bird flu vaccine had positive interim data, yet Kennedy canceled the $760 million contract with Moderna reportedly because of concerns about the safety of the mRNA technology being used. There are no other prospects for a bird flu vaccine in the foreseeable future.

While the ACIP has scrapped voting on COVID-19 and HPV vaccines from this week’s agenda, they have added a vote on thiomersal in influenza vaccines. Thiomersal contains a form of mercury called ethylmercury, and is used as a preservative in multi-dose vials. Myths that it causes autism or mercury poisoning have long been debunked.

Not up for a vote this week but controversial topics that this committee could address: HPV, hepatitis B and the measles, mumps and rubella vaccines.

HPV vaccine is designed to prevent human papillomavirus infections, which cause cervical and other cancers. It is extraordinarily effective but must be given before someone becomes sexually active. The current recommendation is to administer the vaccine at between ages 9 and 11. Many people mistakenly believe that providing the vaccine will promote sexual activity, so they do not want the vaccine to be used.

If ACIP doesn’t recommend a vaccine, insurers are unlikely to pay for it. (Some hope that even insurers realize that the cost of a vaccine pales in comparison to the cost of ICU stays or long-term rehabilitation. “Routine childhood vaccinations will have prevented approximately 508 million lifetime cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and 1,129,000 deaths, at a net savings of $540 billion in direct costs and $2.7 trillion in societal costs,” according to this CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases article.

Some physicians or pharmacists may have concerns about their liability for giving a vaccine outside of the ACIP recommendations.

If ACIP recommends a vaccine, it must be paid for by insurance under the Affordable Care Act, which covers about 150 million people in the U.S. The Vaccines for Children program provides free vaccines to approximately 50% of children in the U.S.

The costs of vaccines will likely be prohibitively expensive for many, even if in they fall in the $100-$200 range. If demand for vaccines decreases, some pharmacies may not stock them.

There is pushback from many medical groups. For example, Dr. Steven J. Fleischman, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynocologists president, said, “despite the change in recommendations from HHS, the science has not changed. It is very clear that COVID-19 infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability, and it can cause devastating consequences for families. The COVID-19 vaccine is safe during pregnancy, and vaccination can protect our patients and their infants after birth.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics president, Dr. Susan Kressly, said, “Creating confusion around proven vaccines endangers families’ health and contributes to the spread of preventable diseases.”

American College of Physicians President Dr. Jason M. Goldman was more pointed, saying Kennedy “circumvented the standard, transparent vaccine review process, interferes with the practice of evidence-based medicine and destabilizes a trusted source and its evidence-based process for helping guide decision-making for vaccines to protect the public health in our country. The announcement will seriously erode public confidence.”

Who Are The New ACIP Members Named By Kennedy?

Among the most controversial is Robert Malone, “who parlayed conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines” and claims to be the inventor of mRNA vaccine technology. Almost 300 medical experts complained about the misinformation Malone spread on the Joe Rogan show. Malone was an expert witness against Merck in a mumps vaccine lawsuit, which failed.

Another new committee member, Martin Kuhlldorff, Ph.D., was co-author of the “Great Barrington Declaration” with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, arguing for herd immunity rather than mass vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also served as an expert witness against Merck in a suit claiming the company concealed the risks of Gardasil, its vaccine for the prevention of cancers caused by human papillomavirus. Merck won the suits.

Cody Meissner also supported the “Great Barrington Declaration.” While he does not appear to be totally anti-vaccination, he did support Kennedy’s decision to not offer the COVID-19 vaccination to healthy children