Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Consultant Positions On National Vaccine Advisory Committee Are Open For Nominations
CIDRAP: After Revising Charter, HHS Seeks Nominees For Its National Vaccine Advisory Committee
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking nominations for membership on the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC), according to a notice in the Federal Register. Although it won’t be published until [Wednesday], the Federal Register features a link to the unpublished document. (Van Beusekom, 8/11)
On the MMR vaccine —
NBC News: Trump Wants The MMR Vaccine Divided Into Three Shots. Is That Even Possible?
Dividing the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine into three separate shots would be likely to cost millions of dollars and take years to accomplish, vaccine experts say, making it impossible to follow President Donald Trump’s latest directive to break up the immunizations and give them at three doctor’s office visits. (Edwards, 8/11)
The Washington Post: What Does Trump’s Executive Order On Vaccines Mean For My Kids?
President Donald Trump issued this week a sweeping executive order aimed at changing how and when American children are vaccinated, defying guidance from major medical groups and sparking confusion among parents. The directive calls for reducing the number of recommended childhood vaccines, spacing out the shots and splitting up the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine. The White House says the effort is to align the United States with its peer nations. The potential changes would diverge from long-standing federal guidance around immunizations, which medical experts credit with halting the spread of deadly preventable diseases in the United States. (Roubein and Sun, 8/11)
The Hill: Cornyn Posts Vaccine Data After Trump Passes Executive Order
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) shared a post on Tuesday touting the effectiveness of vaccines following President Trump’s executive order seeking to decrease childhood vaccines and buck the standard order of shots by dividing immunizations for mumps, measles and rubella (MMR). “Since 1974, vaccination has averted 154 million deaths, including 146 million among children younger than 5 years of whom 101 million were infants younger than 1 year,” read a post from Cornyn’s account on the social platform X. Cornyn was directly citing an article published by The Lancet, a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal. (Fields, 8/11)
The Hill: Dr. Ashish Jha Slams Trump Administration's New Childhood Vaccine Guidelines
Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House coordinator of the COVID-19 pandemic under former President Biden, is speaking out against the Trump administration’s new “gold standard” recommendations for childhood vaccines. On Monday, President Trump signed an executive order that would split up the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot across three separate doctor’s visits. ... Jha called the move a “terrible idea” in a Monday interview with NewsNation, The Hill’s broadcast partner. (Davis, 8/11)
Stat: Health Care Industry Pushes Back On Trump Vaccine Policy Changes
Health industry leaders pushed back on President Trump’s executive order on vaccines this week — including those he may need to rely on for his agenda. (Payne, 8/11)
The Hill: WHO Defends Global Immunization Guidelines After Trump Vaccine Order
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday defended its immunization guidelines amid the Trump administration’s decision to decrease the number of recommended childhood vaccines in the U.S. (Davis, 8/11)
In news about covid —
MedPage Today: COVID Excess Deaths Paper Retracted Over Misinformation
BMJ Public Health retracted a study on excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic that appeared to suggest vaccination and other countermeasures as a possible explanation, following an investigation by the journal and the authors' institution. (Fiore, 8/11)
CIDRAP: Study Ties COVID Vaccine Conspiracy Theories To Distrust Of Government, Mainstream Media
As soon as the COVID-19 vaccine rollout began early in the pandemic, conspiracy theories about them started swirling. Some people claimed that the vaccines contained microchips, while others were suspicious about the intentions of the government or pharmaceutical companies. Researchers surveyed people in Japan about their beliefs in COVID-19 conspiracy theories to understand who adheres to such ideas. The findings were published last week in Scientific Reports. (Holohan, 8/11)
