Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CDC Vaccine Advisory Panel Abandons Universal Covid Shot Recommendation
AP: Health Secretary's New Vaccine Advisers Leave COVID-19 Shots Up To Individual Choice
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vaccine advisers added confusion Friday to this fall’s COVID-19 vaccinations — declining to recommend them for anyone and leaving the choice up to those who want a shot. Until now, the vaccinations had been recommended as a routine step in the fall for nearly all Americans — just like a yearly flu vaccine. (Stobbe and Neergaard, 9/20)
CIDRAP: ACIP Tables Vote To Delay Hepatitis B Vaccine Birth Dose
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory panel today voted to postpone a vote on delaying the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine, given that most members felt more data was needed to inform the wording of the recommendation. In another vote, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) reversed a Vaccines for Children (VFC) program vote it took yesterday on the measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine for children younger than 4 years old. The reversal removes the vaccine from the federal program that provides free vaccine to uninsured and underinsured children. (Schnirring, 9/19)
Bloomberg: RFK Jr. ACIP Panel Moves On MMRV, Covid Muddy US Vaccine Guidance
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked panel was expected to overhaul longstanding immunization recommendations for children this week. It didn’t go as smoothly as planned. Public-health experts had been bracing for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, or ACIP, to upend the established rhythm of childhood shots in the US. The regimen is credited with controlling scores of diseases that previously disabled or killed millions of Americans. (Muller, 9/20)
The Hill: Besser: CDC's Updated Vaccine Guidance Instills Doubt
Richard Besser, the former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), says he “can’t look” to the CDC for trustworthy medical information on Sunday. “My biggest takeaway as a doctor is that I can’t look to the CDC anymore for the trusted information,” Besser said on ABC’s “This Week.” “I’m going to need to look to medical societies and other groups to provide that information. (Rego, 9/21)
KFF Health News: Mercury In Your Hot Dog? Vaccine Skeptics Face Their Limits At Crucial CDC Meeting
Public health officials watched with dread as a panel shaped by the Trump administration took up an agenda to begin dismantling six decades of vaccination development and progress. But while the result seemed foretold, the debate was far from unanimous. (Allen and Rayasam, 9/19)
States offer their own vaccine guidance —
CIDRAP: Northeast States Form Alliance To Make Public Health Guidance As Vermont, DC Ensure COVID Vaccine Access
Seven Northeast states and New York City have formed the Northeast Public Health Collaborative (NPHC) to make evidence-based public health recommendations—including on vaccines—while Vermont and the District of Columbia are the latest US jurisdictions to announce safeguards for access to COVID-19 vaccines. (Wappes, 9/19)
