The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine advisory panel is scheduled to meet next month to discuss Covid vaccine injuries, a move signaling a significant shift in focus under the leadership of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who last year replaced all previous members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). A Federal Register notice posted Wednesday detailed the planned discussion.
The panel’s latest composition, largely comprised of vaccine skeptics appointed by Kennedy, has drawn scrutiny from public health experts. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, expressed concern over past statements made by committee members. “Some committee members have made repeated claims about Covid vaccine harms that were either unsupported by verifiable data or reflected clear mischaracterizations of the existing scientific literature,” Osterholm said. He launched the Vaccine Integrity Project last year as an alternative source of vaccine information, citing a need for transparency and rigor in the committee’s deliberations.
Kennedy has been a vocal critic of Covid vaccines, previously calling the vaccine “the deadliest vaccine ever made.” Under his direction, the CDC has scaled back recommendations for the shots, updating guidance in October to suggest vaccination only for adults 65 and older after consultation with a healthcare provider – a change from the prior recommendation for all individuals six months and older.
The upcoming meeting also comes after Dr. Vinay Prasad, the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine chief, circulated a memo in November stating an internal review identified at least 10 deaths in children potentially linked to the Covid vaccine. The FDA has not publicly released the findings or published them in a peer-reviewed journal.
The focus on vaccine injuries is atypical for the ACIP, according to Dorit Reiss, a vaccine policy expert at the University of California Law San Francisco. “Vaccine injuries are not a direct part of the committee’s mandates,” Reiss said in an email. “When they make vaccine recommendations, they should consider vaccine risks, and new risks may lead to changed recommendations; but that’s not directly about vaccine injuries.” The panel did previously address a rare side effect, myocarditis, observed in teen boys and young men following mRNA Covid vaccination in 2021, considering adjustments to the vaccination schedule.
Reiss suggested the panel could either further narrow its recommendations for Covid vaccines or request changes to the vaccine’s labeling to emphasize potential risks, though label modifications are typically the purview of the FDA.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) announced Tuesday its withdrawal as a liaison group for ACIP, citing concerns about “recent changes that undermine the committee’s scientific integrity and evidence-based approach to vaccine policy.”
In addition to Covid vaccine injuries, the ACIP meeting agenda includes discussions on long Covid and “ACIP recommendation methodology,” according to the Federal Register notice. The CDC, established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center, is the national public health agency of the United States, operating under the Department of Health and Human Services.
