Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are scheduled soon to cast votes on influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines, according to a document released on June 18.
New members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) are slated on June 25 to offer a recommendation to the CDC on RSV vaccines for pregnant women and children, a draft agenda for the meeting states, as well as vote on RSV vaccines with regards to the Vaccines for Children program.
Vaccines for Children is a federal program that involves the CDC buying certain vaccines and distributing them to providers, making them available to uninsured and certain other children.
Then on June 26, CDC advisers are slated to vote on influenza vaccines, according to the draft agenda. They’re also poised to vote separately on recommendations concerning influenza vaccines containing thimerosal, a preservative used in some shots. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his book Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak called thimerosal “immensely toxic to brain tissue.”
No other votes are listed for the meeting, which will take place as senators hold a confirmation hearing for Susan Monarez, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the CDC.
In the federal notice for the meeting issued on June 9, the CDC said there would be votes on COVID-19 vaccines, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, Lyme disease vaccination, meningococcal vaccines, pneumococcal vaccines, influenza vaccines, and RSV vaccines for adults, pregnant women, and children.
The notice also said the panel would be voting on Vaccines for Children coverage for COVID-19 vaccines, HPV vaccines, influenza vaccines, and RSV vaccines.
The Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC’s parent agency, did not respond to a request for comment about why the number of planned votes changed.
Kennedy, several days after the notice was issued, announced that he was removing all 17 members of the advisory panel, citing conflicts of interest and other problems. Some of the members had recently received money from pharmaceutical companies.
Kennedy on June 11 named eight new members, including epidemiologist Martin Kulldorff and former panel member Dr. Cody Meissner.
Some of the new members have expressed opposition to recommending COVID-19 vaccines to any populations. Vicky Pebsworth, director of research and patient safety with the National Vaccine Information Center, said in a May letter that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines should only be accessible to people, not recommended. The CDC recently narrowed its recommendations but still recommends the shots for most people.
Former panel members said in a viewpoint published this week that they were concerned that their removal, as well as the departure of several CDC officials who worked with the panel, “undermines the committee’s capacity to operate effectively and efficiently, aside from raising questions about competence.”
The draft agenda confirmed ACIP has a new executive secretary, Dr. Mina Zadeh, is taking over from Dr. Melinda Wharton, who did not return an inquiry.
Zadeh has spent more than 27 years at the Department of Health and Human Services, a spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. The spokesperson described Zadeh as “a proven leader in public health policy, strategy, and evaluation” who “brings unparalleled experience, strategic insight, and commitment to scientific excellence to the” panel.
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