The Defender will bring readers live updates on today’s and tomorrow’s meetings of the CDC vaccine advisory committee. The two-day meeting agenda includes a discussion of possible changes to the childhood vaccine schedule.
by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D.Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.
Editor’s note: This story will be updated throughout the day. Check back here for new updates.
Check back here for live updates throughout the day.
The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meets today and tomorrow to discuss, among other issues, possible changes to the childhood vaccine schedule.
Today’s agenda includes possible changes to recommendations for the Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Varicella (MMRV) vaccine and the hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccine.
Tomorrow’s agenda includes a discussion of COVID-19 vaccines for children.
The committee is responsible for advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccination policy. The CDC director typically signs off on ACIP’s vaccine recommendations for the American public, including what vaccines will be covered by the federal Vaccines for Children Program.
Jim O’Neill is acting director of the agency, following the firing last month of Susan Monarez, Ph.D.
Five additional members will join ACIP for the first time today, bringing the number of members on the committee to 12. In June, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all 17 sitting members of ACIP, citing conflicts of interest.
Sparks flew at a U.S. Senate hearing yesterday, as many senators said they oppose possible changes to COVID-19 and Hep B vaccine recommendations for children.
Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Tracy Beth Høeg, M.D., Ph.D., was scheduled to present the agency’s findings on the child deaths related to the COVID-19 vaccines. However, her presentation is not listed on the meeting schedule.
More than 5,000 written public comments have been submitted to the committee in advance of this meeting.
Watch live on CHD.TV here.
Brenda Baletti, Ph.D., is a senior reporter for The Defender. She wrote and taught about capitalism and politics for 10 years in the writing program at Duke University. She holds a Ph.D. in human geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master's from the University of Texas at Austin.
Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D., based in Athens, Greece, is a senior reporter for The Defender and host of "The Defender In-Depth" on CHD.TV.
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