Vaccines could get more expensive and harder to access after RFK Jr. purged a CDC panel
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shook up a key federal vaccine advisory committee this week, ousting its sitting 17 members Monday and naming eight new individuals Wednesday, including ones known for anti-vaccine views and for spreading misinformation.
The changes could potentially impact vaccine cost and availability in California and the uncertainty is making families anxious, experts say.
'I've been having several conversations every day with families who are trying to get their children vaccinated early because parents are worried that these vaccines will not be available for their children in the near future,' said Eric Ball, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics in California.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice provides vaccine recommendations to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The group's guidance doesn't just have medical implications; it also has financial consequences for people seeking vaccinations.
'Under the Affordable Care Act, if ACIP recommends a vaccine, insurance companies have to cover it,' said Dorit Reiss, a professor of law at UC College of the Law San Francisco, who specializes in vaccine-related law and policies. The federally funded Vaccines for Children program also covers recommended vaccines for uninsured and underinsured children, Reiss said.
Potentially, the new ACIP members could alter recommendations, which would in turn affect coverage for vaccines. Nothing is certain, however: 'We don't know how this (newly) constituted committee will vote,' Reiss said. The advisory committee is scheduled to meet on June 25 to review scientific data and vote on vaccine recommendations.
If problems do arise around vaccine access, there could be additional issues for California's immunization mandates for schools. 'How can you mandate a vaccine if people can't access it?' Reiss said.
The sweeping changes to ACIP, established in 1964, are unprecedented, experts say.
'I can't even think of a time when an individual member has been removed from the committee,' said Yvonne Maldonado, a professor of global health and infectious diseases at Stanford and one of the 17 experts removed from the vaccine advisory committee this week.
'We are really in uncharted territory here, in terms of the membership changing so radically and so quickly,' Maldonado said.
Maldonado explained that the existing process for evaluating vaccine safety and effectiveness is 'incredibly rigorous,' with numerous safety checkpoints.
'Vaccines are foundational to public health,' Maldonado said. 'They save millions of lives.'
Reiss added that the United States has a system that allows people who experience problems due to a CDC-recommended vaccine to seek compensation from the government. This limits the liability of vaccine companies. If new advisory committee members remove current vaccine recommendations, Reiss said she is concerned 'that some manufacturers might leave the vaccine market.'
In an editorial published Monday in the Wall Street Journal, Secretary Kennedy wrote that the 17 ACIP members were 'retired' because 'the committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest.'
Experts roundly disagreed with the claims and numerous medical organizations quickly spoke out. 'That's very telling,' said Catherine Flores, executive director of the California Immunization Coalition, a statewide nonprofit advocacy and education organization around immunizations.
While past ACIP vaccine experts were thoroughly vetted, details about the process for the newly announced group aren't clear, Flores said. Flores is concerned some committee members may lack the previous ACIP members' level of expertise about vaccines.
'We are very concerned about what's next,' Flores said.
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