The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has posted the agenda for the upcoming meeting of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
The ACIP meeting, to be held on September 18 and 19 at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, will include discussions and possible votes on recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines; hepatitis B vaccine; measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine; and respiratory syncytial virus. The ACIP will also provide updates on its work groups.
But in a new development today spurred by recent upheaval at the CDC, a US senator is calling for the meeting to be postponed.
A different ACIP
The meeting is the second of the newly reconstituted ACIP, which now includes seven members handpicked by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who fired the 17 sitting members of the group in June. Several of the new members of the group share Kennedy’s anti-vaccine views.
At the June meeting, the new members announced their intention to revisit recommendations for the hepatitis B and MMRV vaccines, both of which are recommended for young children (MMRV is a combination of the measles and chickenpox vaccines; the CDC recommends the first doses of the two vaccines be administered separately, while MMRV is the preferred option for the second dose). That announcement, along with the recommendation that Americans receive flu vaccines only in single doses that don’t contain thimerosal, were questioned by public health and infectious disease experts.
The meeting comes amid chaos at the CDC, largely revolving around vaccine recommendations. CDC Director Susan Monarez, PhD, was fired yesterday by the White House after refusing to meet demands from Kennedy that she accept ACIP recommendations and fire staff, according to media reports. While the CDC director isn’t legally bound to accept ACIP recommendations, they typically do. Monarez’s ouster was followed by the resignation of three top CDC officials (see CIDRAP News story).
The discussions and possible vote on COVID-19 vaccine recommendations are among those that will be closely watched. Current CDC guidelines recommend COVID vaccines for most adults ages 18 and older, and for children ages 6 to 17 based on discussions with a healthcare provider. But Kennedy announced in June that COVID vaccines were no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women, and the Food and Drug Administration yesterday released narrower approvals for updated COVID shots.
Cassidy: developments and scientific lapses require oversight
In a statement released today by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who heads the committee and was instrumental in Kennedy’s confirmation to be HHS Secretary, called for the ACIP meeting to be postponed.
“Serious allegations have been made about the meeting agenda, membership, and lack of scientific process being followed for the now announced September ACIP meeting,” Cassidy said. “These decisions directly impact children’s health and the meeting should not occur until significant oversight has been conducted. If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership.”
Cassidy, a physician by training, has long been a proponent of vaccines. When he announced his support for Kennedy’s confirmation, Cassidy said that Kennedy had agreed to maintain ACIP recommendations without changes.
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