Senator slams RFK Jr. for replacing CDC vaccine panel
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Although vaccines may have a tougher time winning the endorsement of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently replaced all of its members,
Kennedy last week announced he would "retire" the entire panel that guides U.S. vaccine policy. He also quietly removed Dr. Melinda Wharton — the veteran Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official who coordinated the committee's meetings.
The scientist, Dr. Fiona Havers, told colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday that she no longer had confidence that the COVID and RSV data would be used "objectively or evaluated with appropriate scientific rigor to make evidence-based vaccine policy decisions," according to an email seen by Reuters.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s actions in recent months have raised concerns that he is taking a heavy-handed and unilateral approach to vaccine policy in the U.S.
Moderna's shares fell 2.3% in early trading on Friday, on concerns whether a new CDC advisory panel would back the use of the company's respiratory syncytial virus vaccine in a broader age group. The RSV shot,