Kennedy’s vaccine committee to vote on flu vaccines and controversial preservative
Atlanta – The new consultative committee of vaccines of the United States Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supported another option to protect infants from dangerous virus – before turning to questions on vaccines against falling fluid and a preservative in a small fraction of them that certain antivaccine groups have falsely linked to autism.
The Consultative Committee on Vaccination Practices has taken up protections against RSV, or respiratory syncytial viruses, a frequent cause of cold -type symptoms that can dangerously ignite the respiratory tract of infants.
In 2023, American health officials began to recommend two new measures to protect infants – an antibody made in the laboratory for newborns and a vaccine for pregnant women – who, according to experts, have probably improved infant mortality. This first antibody, called Nirsevimab, turned out to be 63% to 76% effective against emergency services for infants in the past year.
On Thursday, the vaccine panel voted for 5-2 that another shot of newly approved antibodies, Merck Clesrovimab, should be used in the same way.
The AIPI, created over 60 years ago, helps centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be determined who should be vaccinated against a long list of diseases, and when. These recommendations have a great impact on the question of whether insurance covers vaccinations and where they are available.
Kennedy was a leading voice in the anti -avaccine movement before becoming the best health official in the country. He dismissed the previous panel of 17 members this month and replaced him with a group of seven members who includes several vaccine skeptics.
During its June meetings, the Committee generally refreshes advice for Americans 6 months and more to obtain a flu vaccine and helps to propel the annual vaccination campaign by the fall.
The presentations prepared for Thursday’s meeting suggest that the panel could do in the same way this year. But there is also a voting linked to the flu which promises controversy.
It concerns Thimérosal, a form of mercury which has been added to vaccines since the beginning of the 20th century to prevent bacterial contamination in multi-doses bottles.
Kennedy has long considered that there was a link between Thimérosal and Autism and also accused the government of hiding the danger. The study after the study found no evidence that Thimérosal causes autism. But since 2001, vaccines manufactured for the American market and systematically recommended for children aged 6 or under have contained no Thimérosal or only traces, limited exceptions.
Thimeralal was placed on the agenda for the meeting shortly after the new opinion of the Kennedy vaccine was appointed last week.
Before the vote, the committee will hear Lyn Redwood, the former president of what is now known as the children’s health – an antivaccine group founded by Kennedy.
Some public health experts argue that Thimérosal’s discussion will unnecessarily raise a doubt in vaccines while making them more expensive and more difficult to obtain this fall.
During the panel meeting on Wednesday, Chrissie Juliano, executive director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, deplored the ousting of the old Aipic panel and the agenda of the new.
Its organization, which represents the major health services of cities, “is deeply concerned about the fact that many routine vaccines could soon become inaccessible or unaffordable for millions of Americans if the AIPI provides changes based on ideology rather than science,” she said. “The stakes are simply too high to let it happen.”
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Neergaard reported to Washington.
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