A key vaccine advisory committee on Wednesday kicked off the first meeting of its newly installed lineup under a cloud of controversy — compounded by a financial conflict review that has already led one member to drop out.
Since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the Center for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices earlier this month and hand-picked eight new members, the public health community has raised concerns about how the panel may influence decisions going forward.
Several of the new members have a history of pushing back against pandemic-era COVID-19 vaccine policies. Health experts say the panel’s overhaul could have consequences for vaccine access broadly because many insurers link coverage to the CDC’s recommendations.The two-day meeting now underway may go a long way in showing whether those fears are justified. On Thursday, for example, the committee is set to make recommendations on the use in flu vaccines of thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative that is used to prevent germs, fungus and bacteria from growing in vials. Some vaccine skeptics have claimed that the ingredient is linked to ADHD and autism, but the CDC itself says that claim has been debunked.
