"The panel provides guidance to the CDC director on how vaccines should be used to prevent disease in the U.S. population. Their recommendations determine which vaccines are offered for free through the Vaccines for Children program, and what many health insurers must cover. They also influence state and local laws on vaccine requirements."
"Many health and medical experts are watching closely and with concern given that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stacked the panel with members who question the safety of long-established vaccines and has made statements critical of current vaccine policy, saying it has eroded public trust."
"Ousted CDC director Susan Monarez who served in the position for 29 days before being fired by Kennedy in late August testified at a congressional hearing Wednesday that Kennedy had pressured her to agree in advance to the committee's recommendations. She said he told her the childhood vaccine schedule "would be changing starting in September, and I needed to be on board with it." She also stated there's "real risk that recommendations could be made restricting access to vaccines for children and others in need without rigorous scientific review.""
An Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will evaluate who should receive COVID shots this fall and whether all newborns should get hepatitis B vaccine at birth. The committee's guidance shapes CDC policy, which affects Vaccines for Children program offerings, insurer coverage, and state vaccine laws. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has appointed members skeptical of established vaccines, removed or pushed out career CDC staff, and barred major medical groups from traditional liaison roles. The former CDC director testified that Kennedy pressured her to preapprove committee recommendations and warned of risks to vaccine access without rigorous scientific review.
Read at www.npr.org
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