Summary
A group of 17 experts was removed from a U.S. government vaccine advisory panel and replaced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including some vaccine skeptics. The former panel members criticized the new direction of the committee, suggesting alternatives to ensure scientific and unbiased vaccine recommendations.
Key Facts
- Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with new members who include vaccine skeptics.
- The former committee members wrote a piece in the New England Journal of Medicine, criticizing the new panel for lacking scientific rigor.
- During the new committee's first meeting, an anti-vaccine advocate presented concerns about a vaccine preservative called thimerosal.
- Thimerosal is a preservative used in some flu vaccines, and despite no proven harm, the new panel recommended its removal.
- The fired experts suggested alternative methods to ensure unbiased vaccine policy, such as having professional groups collaborate or setting up an external review system.
- There are challenges to these alternatives, including data access and health insurers' willingness to cover vaccines recommended by different groups.
- Democratic lawmakers questioned Robert F. Kennedy about his decisions, including halting COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for certain groups.
- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not provide an immediate response to requests for comment on the changes.
