Vaccines on the Agenda as RFK Jr.’s CDC Panel Plans Covid Injuries Review
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee is scheduled to meet next month to discuss Covid vaccine injuries, a Federal Register notice posted Wednesday shows, a development that could affect federal guidance and labeling. The meeting comes after the panel was entirely reappointed last year by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who dismissed the previous members.
Vaccines panel to review vaccines injuries
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) plans to consider Covid vaccine injuries and may vote on recommendations at the upcoming session. Many members named to the panel by the health secretary are known skeptics of vaccines, and the reshaped committee has prompted scrutiny from public-health experts.
Panel appointments, composition and outlook
Critics point to past statements by some committee members that have drawn sharp rebukes from outside experts. One expert noted that some committee members have made repeated claims about Covid vaccine harms that were either unsupported by verifiable data or reflected clear mischaracterizations of the existing scientific literature. That expert added that if the committee revisits vaccine safety questions, it has an obligation to do so transparently and rigorously and that, given past misstatements, members do not deserve the benefit of the doubt.
- ACIP will meet next month and may vote on recommendations.
- The panel was fully reappointed by the health secretary after the prior slate was dismissed.
- A major medical organization recently withdrew its liaison role over concerns about the committee's scientific integrity.
Potential policy and next steps
Under the current health secretary, federal officials have taken steps that narrow access to Covid shots and signaled a harder line on mRNA technology. The health secretary has called the Covid vaccine "the deadliest vaccine ever made. " In prior months, federal guidance was revised to recommend Covid vaccination for adults 65 and older after consultation with a clinician or pharmacist, a shift from an earlier recommendation for everyone 6 months and older.
Separately, an internal memo within the federal vaccine review apparatus described findings that at least 10 children died "after and because of receiving" the Covid shot; those internal findings have not been released publicly. The Food and Drug Administration earlier moved to reject, and then later reversed course on, an application to review an mRNA-based flu vaccine.
The committee does consider vaccine risks as part of its mandate, and one vaccine policy expert observed that new risk information can lead to changed recommendations. That expert also said label changes are typically handled by the Food and Drug Administration rather than the advisory committee itself, suggesting that any push to alter product labels would likely involve additional federal review beyond ACIP's vote.
The reshaped advisory panel has prompted at least one professional organization to withdraw its liaison role, citing concerns that recent changes have undermined the committee's scientific integrity and evidence base. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment on the upcoming meeting.
What happens at the meeting could influence federal guidance and formal recommendations. If the committee narrows its recommendations for Covid vaccination or formally raises new safety concerns, those moves could prompt follow-up actions by regulatory bodies and potentially by clinical guideline authors. The agenda and any potential votes will be closely watched when the panel convenes next month.
