5 new members added to CDC vaccine advisory panel ahead of key meeting

""The new ACIP members bring a wealth of real-world public health experience to the job of making immunization recommendations," said Jim O'Neill, Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services and Acting Director of the CDC in a media statement. "We are grateful for their service in helping restore the public confidence in vaccines that was lost during the Biden era.""

""The new members of the influential Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices are: Hilary Blackburn, a pharmacist at AscensionRx, who also hosts a podcast, Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist and an affiliate of the Independent Medical Alliance, Dr. Evelyn Griffin, an ob/gyn and functional medicine practitioner, Dr. Raymond Pollak, a semi-retired transplant surgeon, and Catherine Stein, an epidemiology professor at Case Western Reserve University, who has claimed the government overstated COVID risks.""

""The advisory group now numbering 12 members makes recommendations that help determine which vaccines are offered free through the Vaccines for Children program, and what health insurers typically cover. They also influence state and local laws around vaccine requirements. The appointments expand the committee just before it meets this week in Atlanta. On Thursday and Friday, the members will be considering policies such as who should get the fall COVID-19 booster shot, and whether all babies should get the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.""

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appointed five new members to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices days before the panel's vaccine meeting. New appointees include Hilary Blackburn, pharmacist; Dr. Kirk Milhoan, pediatric cardiologist; Dr. Evelyn Griffin, ob/gyn and functional medicine practitioner; Dr. Raymond Pollak, semi-retired transplant surgeon; and Catherine Stein, epidemiology professor who has claimed the government overstated COVID risks. The 12-member advisory group recommends vaccine coverage for programs like Vaccines for Children, influences insurance and state vaccine rules, and will consider fall COVID booster eligibility and newborn hepatitis B vaccination.

Read at www.npr.org