By Associated Press’s Mike Stobbe
NEW YORK (AP) More than half a dozen of the country’s leading medical organizations have been informed by U.S. health officials that they will no longer assist in developing vaccination recommendations.
In an email sent to the groups on Thursday, the government announced that their experts would no longer be asked to participate in the workgroups that have served as the foundation of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Among these are the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Medical Association.
Dr. William Schaffner, a vaccine specialist at Vanderbilt University who has worked with ACIP and its workgroups for decades, expressed his anxiety and grief.
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According to him, the action will probably lead to a perplexing disarray in vaccine recommendations since patients might hear one thing from the government and another from their physicians.
According to one email, as the organizations are special interest groups, prejudice is to be expected given their constituency and/or demographic they represent.
First reported by Bloomberg, the measure was verified by a federal health official on Friday.
The ruling was the most recent chapter in the ACIP’s ongoing story. Established in 1964, the committee advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the appropriate use of vaccinations that have received FDA approval.
Historically, CDC directors have nearly always given their approval to those recommendations, which are generally followed by physicians and authorize insurance coverage for vaccinations.
Before becoming the senior health official in the U.S. government, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a prominent voice in the anti-vaccine campaign. In June, he abruptly sacked the whole ACIP, claiming that they were too closely associated with manufacturers. Several vaccination doubters are among the replacements he hand-picked.
In addition to committee members, the workgroups usually consist of many specialists from scientific and medical associations. Members of the workgroup assess data from the CDC and vaccine producers during meetings, and they develop recommendations for vaccinations that will be submitted to the entire committee.
According to Schaffner, the structure was developed for a number of reasons. The professional associations offer suggestions regarding what doctors may or may not be able to implement. According to him, having the support of reputable medical organizations also contributed to the growth of respect and confidence in ACIP recommendations.
According to Schaffner, workgroup members are screened for conflicts of interest to ensure that no one has been appointed to the hepatitis committee who has, for example, profited from developing a hepatitis vaccine.
The American Geriatrics Society, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, the American Osteopathic Association, the National Medical Association, and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases were also excluded from the groupings.
The American Medical Association and a number of other groups issued a joint statement on Friday, stating: It is reckless, harmful to the health of our country, and will further erode public and physician confidence in vaccinations to remove our extensive medical knowledge from this crucial and formerly transparent process.
In order to maintain our confidence in the administration’s vaccine recommendations for our patients, they asked them to reevaluate the action.
A lawsuit against the government was filed last month by three of the disinvited groups over Kennedy’s decision to discontinue promoting COVID-19 vaccines for the majority of youngsters and pregnant women. Kennedy’s revisions to the ACIP have drawn criticism from several professional organizations.
Retsef Levi, one of the Kennedy-appointed ACIP members, stated on social media on Friday that the working groups will include specialists from an even wider range of fields!
According to Levi, a professor of business management, membership in working groups will be determined by qualifications and experience rather than affiliation with groups that have a radical and limited perspective on public health or conflicts of interest.
The individuals who will be added to the ACIP workgroups have not been disclosed by HHS authorities.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Science and Educational Media Group of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute provide support to the Associated Press Health and Science Department. All content is entirely the AP’s responsibility.
