STAT+: Vaccine advisory panel, a frequent target of Kennedy, meets with little drama
An advisory panel on vaccines meets, carefully, in the shadow of a health secretary who has often criticized it.
A meeting of vaccine advisers long targeted by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unfolded Tuesday seemingly without fireworks or interference, although the new administration’s imprint could be seen from the start, when staff for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gutted by layoffs, struggled to get a livestream running.
“We’re working through some broadcasting issues,” said ACIP chair Keipp Talbot, to begin the meeting. “As you may have noticed, there have been some changes with the recent reduction in force, including to our communications group.”
Health and Human Services abruptly cancelled the February meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, a 60-year-old body that provides recommendations for how vaccines should be deployed across the country. Public health professionals were relieved to see the committee reconvened but nervous about potential interference from a department now run by the country’s most prominent vaccine critic.
