There was much flip-flopping of decisions and reversals of conclusions last week during two days of meetings of the US vaccine advisory committee, which has now voted to stop recommending all adults get the Covid-19 vaccine – previously officially approved for most Americans annually since the pandemic, reports the BBC.
The Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices (ACIP) also narrowly voted against advocating prescriptions for the Covid jab.
Over the two days, ACIP changed its recommendations on the combined measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (MMRV) vaccine, and delayed plans for a vote on the hepatitis B vaccine.
Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr had fired all 17 members of the committee in June and handpicked their successors, sparking an uproar in the medical community.
The panel spent Friday debating the Covid-19 vaccine, which has for the past several years been a routine recommendation, like the yearly flu jab.
ACIP voted to abandon broad support for recommending the jab, including for high-risk populations like people over 65. Instead, it decided they could make their own decision after discussions with a medical professional.
In May, the government stopped recommending Covid vaccines for healthy pregnant women and children.
In one exchange on Friday, Kennedy’s ally, Dr Robert Malone, argued there was no evidence that the Covid vaccine prevented serious infection.
Dr Cody Meissner, once part of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccines panel, argued that there was “pretty well-defined” data that the jab protects against infection.
There was also confusion during the debate over the MMRV vaccine – measles, mumps and rubella and varicella (chickenpox).
On Thursday, the panel voted against recommending the combined MMRV shot for children aged four and under. But on Friday it decided to endorse two separate jabs – a combined one for measles, mumps and rubella, and another for varicella.
The American Medical Association said the new MMRV recommendations are confusing for parents.
The panel also delayed a vote on whether newborns whose mothers have tested negative for hepatitis B during pregnancy should automatically receive a jab for the liver virus.
The ACIP has cast doubt on the hepatitis B vaccine for months, even though scientists say it is safe and effective at preventing the infection.
In June, the panel’s new chairman Dr Martin Kulldorff questioned whether it was “wise” to give the vaccine to newborns.
Since 1991, when the CDC first advised that children receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, the number of cases of the potentially fatal disease have decreased among people aged 19 and younger, which experts and the CDC credit to the implementation of the vaccine.
Kennedy has overhauled the CDC during his tenure, not just replacing the members of the vaccine advisory panel in June, but also firing its chief Susan Monarez in late August, provoking a group of senior staff to resign in protest.
On Wednesday, Monarez told the Senate she was fired for refusing to sign off on changes to vaccine policy “regardless of the scientific evidence”.
However, earlier this month, Kennedy said he dismissed her because he felt their interactions demonstrated she was not trustworthy.
BBC article – US vaccine panel no longer recommends Covid-19 jab to adults (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Kennedy pushes for review of Covid vaccine deaths
US reverses Covid vaccine guidelines, calls for new scientific evidence