A meeting of the US vaccine advisory panel planned for later this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reportedly been postponed amid legal challenges the panel is facing over its validity.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which provides guidance on who should receive certain vaccines, was originally set to meet Feb. 25 to 27, according to the CDC website.
The postponement came as Health Secretary and longtime vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stepped up efforts to reshape federal vaccine policy. Among his moves are removing broad recommendations for six common childhood vaccines, including those against covid and hepatitis B; increasing federal support for state-level vaccination exemptions; and reducing financial support for research on mRNA-based vaccines.
The group Central to US Vaccine Policy is moving its upcoming session to next month, while a Boston court considered a legal challenge from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the professional body representing the nation’s pediatricians, questioning the committee’s legitimacy.
Although a specific date has not been announced, the panel is now expected to meet in March, a source familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
The committee evaluates which vaccines are recommended for children and adults in the US and plays a key role in determining insurance coverage. Its recommendations have traditionally affected health insurance coverage across the country, state requirements for school vaccinations, and the guidance doctors provide to patients and parents.
The panel underwent several changes last year after Kennedy’s decision in June to fire and replace all of its members.
Many of the changes to the childhood vaccination schedule were spearheaded by Kennedy’s handpicked vaccine advisers, many of whom expressed concern about the extremely rare risks of side effects from vaccines, compared to decades of evidence of benefits in protecting against illness, hospitalization and death.
The postponement comes amid broader leadership changes at CDC. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya will serve as the CDC’s interim director, a Trump administration official said Wednesday, taking over from current interim director Jim O’Neill.
Experts have raised concerns about vaccine safety after changes to ACIP and the spread of the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement. Last year, the panel made a controversial decision to end a long-standing recommendation that all infants receive the hepatitis B vaccine.
Last month, ACIP’s top adviser said the committee was reexamining all vaccine recommendations.
