Login‘We Are Doing Harm’: RFK Jr.’s ACIP Guts Universal Hep B Vaccination at Birth
Outside experts and groups widely condemned the decision.
Outside experts and groups widely condemned the decision.
Reading view
Outside experts and groups widely condemned the decision.
Without evidence, RFK Jr.’s vaccine panel tosses hep B vaccine recommendation
Federal vaccine advisors hand-selected by anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have voted to eliminate a recommendation that all babies be vaccinated against hepatitis B on the day of birth. The decision was made with no evidence of harm from that dose and no evidence of any benefit from the delay.
Public health experts, medical experts, and even some members of the panel decried the vote, which studies and historical data indicate will lead to more infections in babies that, in turn, will lead to more cases of chronic liver disease, liver cancer, and premature death.
“I will just say we have heard ‘do no harm’ is a moral imperative. We are doing harm by changing this [recommendation],” Cody Meissner, a pediatrician and voting member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), said as he voted against the change.
© Getty | Tim Clayton
RFK Jr. Taps Preacher Who Blames Vaccines for Cancer, Compares Covid Tracking to Nazi Germany
Kirk Milhoan has claimed without evidence that the covid-19 shots caused spikes in cancer and miscarriages. Now he's helping shape the country's vaccine policy.
Meet CDC’s new lead vaccine advisor who thinks shots cause heart disease
When the federal vaccine committee hand-picked by anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. meets again this week, it will have yet another new chairperson to lead its ongoing work of dismantling the evidence-based vaccine recommendations set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that the chairperson who has been in place since June—when Kennedy fired all 17 expert advisors on the committee and replaced them with questionably qualified allies—is moving to a senior role in the department. Biostatistician Martin Kulldorff will now be the chief science officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), HHS said. As such, he’s stepping down from the vaccine committee, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
Kulldorff gained prominence amid the COVID-19 pandemic, criticizing public health responses to the crisis, particularly lockdowns and COVID-19 vaccines. He was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration that advocated for letting the deadly virus spread unchecked through the population, which was called unethical by health experts.
© Getty | Elijah Nouvelage
As shutdown ends, dubious CDC panel gets back to dismantling vaccine schedule
With the government reopening, the dubious panel of vaccine advisors selected by anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy is wasting no time getting back to dismantling the federal childhood vaccine schedule.
A meeting that was scheduled for October but put on hold during the shutdown has already been rescheduled for December 4 and 5. A Federal Register notice Thursday said that the meeting will “include discussions on vaccine safety, the childhood and adolescent immunization schedule, and hepatitis B vaccines.” The announcement was light on information beyond that but indicated that there would be a vote on hepatitis B vaccines.
The panel—the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—is typically composed of preeminent, extensively vetted vaccine experts. But, in June, Kennedy summarily fired all 17 experts on the panel and installed 12 new members, almost all of whom are questionably qualified and espouse anti-vaccine views.
© Getty | Elijah Nouvelage
