CDC Vaccine Panel Faces Scrutiny as States Re-evaluate Guidance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), responsible for shaping U.S. vaccine policy, is under increasing scrutiny following significant changes to its composition and operational procedures. Several states are now moving to lessen their reliance on ACIP recommendations amid concerns that decisions are driven by factors beyond scientific evidence.
Recent appointments by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the current director of the CDC, have altered the committee’s expertise. Noel Brewer, a former ACIP member dismissed in June, stated, “there are large gaps in the new ACIP’s composition in terms of their missing expertise on vaccinology, their missing expertise on primary care, their missing expertise on cost effectiveness and clinical trials.Thes are folks who fundamentally do not understand vaccines in a deep way. I wouldn’t take medical advice from them, and I certainly don’t think they should be setting policy for the united States.”
The ACIP’s June meeting included a vote to effectively ban flu vaccines containing the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal, a decision based on debunked claims and lacking new scientific evidence. This move, along with others, has prompted questions about the integrity of the group’s advice from leading medical organizations.
presidents of five professional medical groups – including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians – expressed concerns in a June op-ed in Stat News, stating, “Misinformation, politicization of commonsense public health efforts, and sudden changes to federal vaccine guidance is creating mass confusion and diminishing trust in public health.As we head into another fall season sure to be marked by cases of flu, Covid-19, and RSV as well as the alarming reappearance of measles and pertussis, the stakes could not be higher.”
Several states, including Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, California, and Hawaii, are forming alliances to develop independent vaccine policies, citing concerns that future ACIP recommendations may be based on “ideology and not science,” according to Dennis Worsham, health secretary for the Washington State Department of Health.
Manny state vaccine laws are currently tied to ACIP guidance.
