The February ACIP Meeting Has Been Postponed
...and has not yet been rescheduled.
Welcome to Robert F Kennedy, Jr’s HHS…
In addition to firing over 5,000 workers and canceling a very successful immunization ad campaign that encouraged people to get a flu vaccine, a scheduled meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has been postponed.
A three day meeting in which ACIP members were going to talk about:
Meningococcal vaccines, including a new GSK pentavalent meningococcal vaccine and labeling changes to the MenQuadfi vaccine for infants
Chikungunya vaccines
Influenza vaccines, including an update on this season’s flu vaccine effectiveness, the use of Flumist for people with asthma, and the self administration of Flumist
RSV vaccines for children, adults, and use in pregnancy, including a discussion of Clesrovimab, a new monoclonal RSV antibody shot for infants
HPV vaccines, including further discussion on whether we can reduce the number of doses in the HPV vaccination schedule
Mpox vaccines, including a presentation on the safety and efficacy of Jynneos in teens
Pneumococcal vaccines
Lyme disease
COVID-19 vaccines, including an update on vaccine effectiveness and plans for next year
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccines, an update on CMV vaccine efficacy and safety data
All of which sounds quite important, doesn’t it?!?
So why was the ACIP meeting postponed?
Normally, the folks at ACIP alert everyone that they can submit a written public comment three weeks before the meeting. And/or they can sign up to give oral comments during the meeting.
Perhaps the person that provides that update got fired, but for whatever reason, that alert didn’t go out this time!
It seems that no one ever updated the ACIP page before the February meeting and we were not able to submit any written public comments.
Oops…
And disturbingly, they still haven’t updated the ACIP meeting page to begin allowing comments so that the meeting can eventually be rescheduled!
Have they done this intentionally to use it as a reason to delay the meeting?
“In response to my questioning at the HELP Committee hearing, Mr. Kennedy committed to support MaineHealth’s development of a vaccine for Lyme disease, as well as research for both chronic and infectious diseases.”
Susan Collins
A meeting that is delaying the Lyme Disease Workgroup and approval of life saving vaccines.
Or again, did they fire the person responsible for posting the update?
“Rescheduling this critical meeting and reconciling the absent portal for public remarks would represent a meaningful early follow-through from the Trump administration and its new HHS Secretary to ensure Americans receive the information needed to protect themselves against vaccine-preventable illnesses, confirming immunization’s importance in the mission to make America healthier.”
Sign-on Letter to Preserve ACIP Meeting
Or is Kennedy delaying the meeting until he can replace ACIP members he doesn’t like?
Whatever the reason, let’s get this ACIP meeting rescheduled and allow these folks to get back to the essential work that they do to keep us healthy and safe.
References
Amid layoffs at HHS, experts warn about impact on public health. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/public-health/amid-layoffs-hhs-experts-warn-about-impact-public-health
ACIP Meeting OCT 23-24, 2024 Posted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Oct 2, 2024 Closed for Comments Comment Period Ended: Oct 18, 2024 at 11:59 PM EDT https://www.regulations.gov/document/CDC-2024-0072-0001/comment
Sen. Susan Collins will support RFK Jr. as US health secretary. https://www.pressherald.com/2025/02/11/sen-susan-collins-will-support-rfk-jr-as-us-health-secretary/
Sign-on Letter to Preserve ACIP Meeting. https://www.fightinfectiousdisease.org/post/sign-on-letter-to-preserve-acip-meeting