Latest news with #GreatBarringtonDeclaration
Gulf Insider
4 days ago
- Health
- Gulf Insider
Fired Harvard Epidemiologist Named to CDC Vaccine Panel
World-renowned infectious-disease epidemiologist Martin Kulldorff — who was fired from Harvard Medical School last year after refusing the COVID vaccine — just got a new gig. Kulldorff has been named a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices. Kulldorff, who had refused the COVID vaccine because of his infection-acquired immunity, lost his appointment at a Harvard-affiliated hospital in the early days of the COVID era, and in March of 2024 was officially terminated as a med school faculty member. Since the COVID lockdowns began five years ago this month, Kulldorff argued that tactics such as social distancing, masking children, vaccines after infections, and other extreme measures were not the best course of action to fight the virus. He co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for sensible tactics that would allow the globe to reach 'herd immunity' and has been signed by nearly 1 million scientists worldwide. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in announcing the new members of the panel last week on X, wrote that his selections signify a 'major step towards restoring public trust in vaccines.' Kennedy wrote he retired the 17 current members of the committee and is repopulating ACIP with eight new members 'committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense.' 'They have each committed to demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations. The committee will review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule as well,' Kennedy stated. MassLive reported that in 2021, 'Kulldorff posted on X that 'thinking that everyone must be vaccinated is as scientifically flawed as thinking that nobody should.'' 'COVID vaccines are important for older high-risk people and their care-takers,' he wrote. 'Those with prior natural infection do not need it. Nor children.' According to the New York Times , after Kennedy's announcement, some infectious disease and vaccine experts accused the health secretary of going back on his pledge not to pick so-called anti-vaxxers. 'When Mr. Kennedy fired the entire committee, known as the A.C.I.P., he cited financial conflicts of interest and said a clean sweep was necessary to restore public trust in vaccination,' the Times reported. As for Harvard's role in the controversy, writing in City Journal last year, Kulldorff argued that Harvard turned its back on him, open debate, and medical freedom. 'The beauty of our immune system is that those who recover from an infection are protected if and when they are re-exposed. This has been known since the Athenian Plague of 430 BC—but it is no longer known at Harvard,' he wrote. 'Three prominent Harvard faculty coauthored the now infamous 'consensus' memorandum in The Lancet, questioning the existence of Covid-acquired immunity. By continuing to mandate the vaccine for students with a prior Covid infection, Harvard is de facto denying 2,500 years of science.' Kennedy, in announcing Kulldorff, noted he is a biostatistician and 'a leading expert in vaccine safety and infectious disease surveillance.' '… Dr. Kulldorff developed widely used tools such as SaTScan and TreeScan for detecting disease outbreaks and vaccine adverse events. His expertise includes statistical methods for public health surveillance, immunization safety, and infectious disease epidemiology. He has also been an influential voice in public health policy, advocating for evidence-based approaches to pandemic response.' Also read: Early COVID-19 Vaccine Patent In China Raises New Questions For U.S. Investigators
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Health
- Perth Now
Anti-vaxxers need an injection of common sense
The teachers were already hoarse from shouting, coping the best they could with a gaggle of kids even more excitable than usual. 'Make a line and be quiet, knuckleheads!' growled Mr Woods. We were a squirming, '70s vaccination line, until scrawny Sean's turn. He staggered forward, put both arms behind his back and promptly threw up on the nurse and her trolley of medical paraphernalia. The class fell quiet at last — a pause before the deafening cheers. Public health is rarely glamorous. As with seatbelts, pool fences and speed limits, when your job is to prevent something happening, the credit is only theoretical. The most exciting outcome is a downward trend on a graph. This gives rise to survivor bias, which leads to people removing effective safety measures — precisely because they are working. Begrudgingly I went for blood tests the other day to prove my immunity, for the hospital administration. They wanted to see my vaccination card from the day Sean threw up, but Mum had filed it under 'not my problem' decades ago. As a nurse expertly drew my blood, I thought of Edward Jenner — not Kim Kardashian's uncle, but the 18th-century physician. A thoughtful scientist, Jenner heard that milk maids who contracted cowpox did not suffer from the similar, but far more severe disease of smallpox. He grabbed a school kid, infected them with cowpox, then later smallpox — ah the good old days — and voila, the kid was fine. 'We are getting through COVID-19 so far with much better outcomes than the rest of world, because we delayed infection until after vaccination' says Andrew Miller. Credit: Adobe Stock / Mia B/ - stock.a Jenner had invented vaccination, and just like that — anti-vaxxers. With every medicine, there can be side effects and problems, but his initiative has saved more humans from death and disability than any other medical intervention, by a long shot. There are 27 main vaccines available for preventable diseases in Australia and together they form one pillar of our good fortune. Our children rarely die early, and some cancers — such as cervical — are in rapid decline. We are getting through COVID-19 so far with much better outcomes than the rest of world, because we delayed infection until after vaccination. It is dark news indeed that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr has replaced the world-recognised experts of the US Advisory Committee for Immunisation Practices with an oddball assortment including anti-vaxxers and public health sceptics. Among them, Professor Martin Kulldorff, co-author of the infamous 'let-it-rip and see who survives' Great Barrington Declaration plan for COVID-19. Also, Vicky Pebsworth, a nurse who asserts that much of the chronic disease burden in the US was caused by vaccination. Then there is Dr Robert Malone, who weighed in on the April measles death of unvaccinated eight-year-old Texan Daisy Hildebrand, minimising the danger of the virus and spreading debunked claims about the MMR vaccine. Malone claims that it was botched treatment, not measles, that led to her death. The problem for Australia is that vaccine hesitancy is contagious online, and it's easier to not get a jab than to bother. Normal people are busy and just want the best for their kids. Our slothful governments are not investing enough money, ingenuity and passion in public health promotion. To maintain herd immunity, where those few who cannot be vaccinated are protected because almost everyone else is, we need coverage of over 95 per cent of the population with MMR vaccine. Our fortunate population has little experience of children dying from infectious diseases, so can be prompted to wonder if vaccines are strictly necessary, or worse, if they might be causing more harm than good. With well-resourced misinformation it would not be hard to give measles the comeback nobody needs. Jenner might have dared dream that 200 years after his invention we could have eliminated most plagues. Unfortunately, that would have accorded too much wisdom to our species. Yet may we hope, as there are many countries like ours watching on in horror as the US sabotages its own future. Let their misfortune be no wasted lesson for us.
New York Post
6 days ago
- Health
- New York Post
RFK's anti-vax agenda endangers the entire Trump reform drive
Word of warning to Health Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr.: Restoring Americans' trust in the feds' public-health decisions means hiring truly fair-minded, science-driven folks — not anti-vax crackpots. RFK Jr. last week canned all 17 members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), saying: 'A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.' Most of them got appointed just last year to terms that would last through 2028, so Kennedy would've had to fire at least some to have much impact on the panel — and President Joe Biden set clear precedent for axing supposedly bi- and non-partisan advisory-board members. Advertisement Yes, ACIP members are supposed to be unbiased experts, but vaccine recommendations nonetheless plainly did get politicized in the Biden years (along with a lot of other public-health 'science,' such as guidelines for reopening schools). Not only did CDC and FDA officials cover up negative side-effects of COVID vaccines, they prompted top career officials to resign over the psuedo-scientific 'findings' that everyone should get vaxxed and re-vaxxed. Happily, several of the eight new ACIP members RFK announced later in the week look to be solid scientists, such as biostatistician Martin Kulldorff, a co-author of the anti-lockdown Great Barrington Declaration, and pediatrician Cody Meissner, who's served on the panel before. Advertisement But at least one pick raises serious alarm bells: Vicky Pebsworth served on the board of the National Vaccine Information Center, an anti-vax outfit that fearmongers about 'vaccine injuries and deaths.' Plus: In announcing the firings, Kennedy announced the federal health department will now prioritize 'public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda.' Huh? It should be pro-vaccine, albeit in a 'trust but verify' mode, because the jabs overall are objectively a life-saving public good. Just ask the victims of the current measles breakout, which anti-vax propaganda has made worse. Advertisement Naming Pebsworth to ACIP is a clear sign RFK still has at least one foot in the anti-vax conspiracy-theory camp; if he keeps it up (he's got 11 more slots to fill on the panel), he'll prove that all who opposed his confirmation were right. The White House needs to keep Kennedy on a short leash, lest he alienate rational Republicans and give Democrats ammunition for undermining the entire Trump agenda.
West Australian
6 days ago
- Health
- West Australian
Andrew Miller: Anti-vaxxers need an injection of common sense
The teachers were already hoarse from shouting, coping the best they could with a gaggle of kids even more excitable than usual. 'Make a line and be quiet, knuckleheads!' growled Mr Woods. We were a squirming, '70s vaccination line, until scrawny Sean's turn. He staggered forward, put both arms behind his back and promptly threw up on the nurse and her trolley of medical paraphernalia. The class fell quiet at last — a pause before the deafening cheers. Public health is rarely glamorous. As with seatbelts, pool fences and speed limits, when your job is to prevent something happening, the credit is only theoretical. The most exciting outcome is a downward trend on a graph. This gives rise to survivor bias, which leads to people removing effective safety measures — precisely because they are working. Begrudgingly I went for blood tests the other day to prove my immunity, for the hospital administration. They wanted to see my vaccination card from the day Sean threw up, but Mum had filed it under 'not my problem' decades ago. As a nurse expertly drew my blood, I thought of Edward Jenner — not Kim Kardashian's uncle, but the 18th-century physician. A thoughtful scientist, Jenner heard that milk maids who contracted cowpox did not suffer from the similar, but far more severe disease of smallpox. He grabbed a school kid, infected them with cowpox, then later smallpox — ah the good old days — and voila, the kid was fine. Jenner had invented vaccination, and just like that — anti-vaxxers. With every medicine, there can be side effects and problems, but his initiative has saved more humans from death and disability than any other medical intervention, by a long shot. There are 27 main vaccines available for preventable diseases in Australia and together they form one pillar of our good fortune. Our children rarely die early, and some cancers — such as cervical — are in rapid decline. We are getting through COVID-19 so far with much better outcomes than the rest of world, because we delayed infection until after vaccination. It is dark news indeed that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jnr has replaced the world-recognised experts of the US Advisory Committee for Immunisation Practices with an oddball assortment including anti-vaxxers and public health sceptics. Among them, Professor Martin Kulldorff, co-author of the infamous 'let-it-rip and see who survives' Great Barrington Declaration plan for COVID-19. Also, Vicky Pebsworth, a nurse who asserts that much of the chronic disease burden in the US was caused by vaccination. Then there is Dr Robert Malone, who weighed in on the April measles death of unvaccinated eight-year-old Texan Daisy Hildebrand, minimising the danger of the virus and spreading debunked claims about the MMR vaccine. Malone claims that it was botched treatment, not measles, that led to her death. The problem for Australia is that vaccine hesitancy is contagious online, and it's easier to not get a jab than to bother. Normal people are busy and just want the best for their kids. Our slothful governments are not investing enough money, ingenuity and passion in public health promotion. To maintain herd immunity, where those few who cannot be vaccinated are protected because almost everyone else is, we need coverage of over 95 per cent of the population with MMR vaccine. Our fortunate population has little experience of children dying from infectious diseases, so can be prompted to wonder if vaccines are strictly necessary, or worse, if they might be causing more harm than good. With well-resourced misinformation it would not be hard to give measles the comeback nobody needs. Jenner might have dared dream that 200 years after his invention we could have eliminated most plagues. Unfortunately, that would have accorded too much wisdom to our species. Yet may we hope, as there are many countries like ours watching on in horror as the US sabotages its own future. Let their misfortune be no wasted lesson for us.
Los Angeles Times
13-06-2025
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
Kennedy's new CDC panel includes members who have criticized vaccines, spread misinformation
NEW YORK — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday named eight new vaccine policy advisers to replace the panel that he abruptly dismissed earlier this week. They include a scientist who researched mRNA vaccine technology and became a conservative darling for his criticisms of COVID-19 vaccines, a leading critic of pandemic-era lockdowns, and a professor of operations management. Kennedy's decision to 'retire' the previous 17-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was widely decried by doctors' groups and public health organizations, who feared the advisers would be replaced by a group aligned with Kennedy's desire to reassess — and possibly end — longstanding vaccination recommendations. On Tuesday, before he announced his picks, Kennedy said: 'We're going to bring great people onto the ACIP panel — not anti-vaxxers — bringing people on who are credentialed scientists.' The new appointees include Vicky Pebsworth, a regional director for the National Assn. of Catholic Nurses. She has been listed as a board member and volunteer director for the National Vaccine Information Center, a group that is widely considered to be a leading source of vaccine misinformation. Another is Dr. Robert Malone, the former mRNA researcher who emerged as a close adviser to Kennedy during the measles outbreak. Malone, who runs a wellness institute and a popular blog, rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as he relayed conspiracy theories around the outbreak and the vaccines that followed. He has appeared on podcasts and other conservative news outlets where he's promoted unproven and alternative treatments for measles and COVID-19. He has claimed that millions of Americans were hypnotized into taking the COVID-19 shots and has suggested that those vaccines cause a form of AIDS. He's downplayed deaths related to one of the largest measles outbreaks in the U.S. in years. Malone told the Associated Press he will do his best 'to serve with unbiased objectivity and rigor.' Other appointees include Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 letter maintaining that pandemic shutdowns were causing irreparable harm. Dr. Cody Meissner, a former ACIP member, also was named. Abram Wagner of the University of Michigan's school of public health, who investigates vaccination programs, said he's not satisfied with the composition of the committee. 'The previous ACIP was made up of technical experts who have spent their lives studying vaccines,' he said. Most people on the current list 'don't have the technical capacity that we would expect out of people who would have to make really complicated decisions involving interpreting complicated scientific data.' He said having Pebsworth on the board is 'incredibly problematic' since she is involved in an organization that 'distributes a lot of misinformation.' Kennedy made the announcement in a social media post on Wednesday. The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC directors almost always approve those recommendations on how vaccines that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration should be used. The CDC's final recommendations are widely heeded by doctors and guide vaccination programs. The other appointees are: Of the eight named by Kennedy, perhaps the most experienced in vaccine policy is Meissner, an expert in pediatric infectious diseases at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, who has previously served as a member of both ACIP and the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory panel. During his five-year term as an FDA adviser, the committee was repeatedly asked to review and vote on the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines that were rapidly developed to fight the pandemic. In September 2021, he joined the majority of panelists who voted against a plan from the Biden administration to offer an extra vaccine dose to all American adults. The panel instead recommended that the extra shot should be limited to seniors and those at higher risk of the disease. Ultimately, the FDA disregarded the panel's recommendation and approved an extra vaccine dose for all adults. In addition to serving on government panels, Meissner has helped author policy statements and vaccination schedules for the American Academy of Pediatrics. ACIP members typically serve in staggered four-year terms, although several appointments were delayed during the Biden administration before positions were filled last year. The voting members are all supposed to have scientific or clinical expertise in immunization, except for one 'consumer representative' who can bring perspective on community and social facets of vaccine programs. Kennedy, a leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement before becoming the U.S. government's top health official, has accused the committee of being too closely aligned with vaccine manufacturers and of rubber-stamping vaccines. ACIP policies require members to state past collaborations with vaccine companies and to recuse themselves from votes in which they had a conflict of interest, but Kennedy has dismissed those safeguards as weak. Most of the people who best understand vaccines are those who have researched them, which usually requires some degree of collaboration with the companies that develop and sell them, said Jason Schwartz, a Yale University health policy researcher. 'If you are to exclude any reputable, respected vaccine expert who has ever engaged even in a limited way with the vaccine industry, you're likely to have a very small pool of folks to draw from,' Schwartz said. The U.S. Senate confirmed Kennedy in February after he promised he would not change the vaccination schedule. But less than a week later, he vowed to investigate childhood vaccines that prevent measles, polio and other dangerous diseases. Kennedy has ignored some of the recommendations ACIP voted for in April, including the endorsement of a new combination shot that protects against five strains of meningococcal bacteria and the expansion of vaccinations against RSV. In late May, Kennedy disregarded the committee and announced the government would change the recommendation for children and pregnant women to get COVID-19 shots. On Monday, Kennedy ousted all 17 members of the ACIP, saying he would appoint a new group before the next scheduled meeting in late June. The agenda for that meeting has not yet been posted, but a recent federal notice said votes are expected on vaccinations against flu, COVID-19, HPV, RSV and meningococcal bacteria. A HHS spokesman did not respond to a question about whether there would be only eight ACIP members, or whether more will be named later. Stobbe writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press reporters Matthew Perrone, Amanda Seitz, Devi Shastri and Laura Ungar contributed to this report. The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
