Medical Experts Look for Unbiased Vaccine Information

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) newly staffed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting today and tomorrow at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, concern has lead outside groups to form an unbiased, independent vaccine panel.

The ACIP comprises leading medical and public health figures, many who are vaccine opponents, that will advise the CDC on the safety, effectiveness, and clinical necessity of vaccines. As CMM previously reported, on June 9, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., (RFK) removed the 17 sitting members of the ACIP committee and replaced them with eight new members. As of Tuesday, one new member, Dr. Michael Ross, withdrew from the ACIP during the financial holdings review required, Reuters reported.

Many health experts don’t agree with RFK’s new ACIP members and are looking for an alternative source of unbiased information, NBC News reported. For example, Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert and the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota, launched the Vaccine Integrity Project as a potential alternative to ACIP.

CIDRAP currently is consulting with multiple medical organizations and public health groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, the American Pharmacists Association, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, to discuss vaccine recommendations.

The American Medical Association also has asked Congress to investigate Kennedy’s handling of ACIP. Earlier this week, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana doctor, asked federal health officials to postpone this week’s ACIP meeting due to the new advisers’ biases against vaccines, CNN reported.