A key vaccine panel under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), handpicked by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., voted Thursday to withdraw its recommendation for a single combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (Chicken pox) (MMRV) shot for children under four. In an 8-3 decision with one member abstaining, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) instead chose to recommend a two-dose schedule.
The panel also weighed whether to revise the hepatitis-B vaccine schedule, pushing the first dose to a month after they are born, rather than administering it at birth. The panel ultimately pushed that vote to Friday. According to the Wall Street Journal, CDC scientists gave a presentation arguing that the dose given at birth is completely safe. Still, ACIP committee member Vicky Pebsworth, who is the research director at a nonprofit that is skeptical of vaccines, argued that "The conclusion that we know that it is safe is perhaps premature.”
Another committee member, Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, said, "We’re going beyond data, and we’re turning into a discussion of speculation."
All current members of the panel were handpicked by RFK Jr. this year.
The decision to revise recommendations of the MMRV vaccine was made based on data that showed the two-dose schedule dropped the rate of seizures following the immunization from 8 in 10,000 to 4 in 10,000. An already extremely low rate of adverse reactions.
According to data from the CDC, most parents already opt for the two-dose vaccine schedule over the single-dose option.
A public health expert and senior scholar from Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Amesh Adalja, argued that "The only reason they would be reopening this discussion is they want to scare people basically and smear vaccines.”
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The chair of the committee, Martin Kulldorf,f told reporters that the decision was made purely due to a lower risk of adverse reactions. “The fewer adverse reactions we have, the more trust there will be in the vaccine schedule,” he said.
Some immunization experts worry that by requiring two doses, and therefore two separate trips to the doctor, it becomes more difficult to ensure children are fully vaccinated. They also worry that no longer recommending the MMRV vaccine will lead to shortages, as pressure would now be on vaccine suppliers to provide a separate vaccine.
The panel is set to reconvene on Friday to discuss COVID-19 and hepatitis B vaccine recommendations.
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