Latest news with #vaccinepolicy
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Bobby Kennedy is going to kill more people than any Cabinet secretary': James Carville warns of RFK Jr's vaccine plan
Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville condemned Robert F Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine strategy, cautioning that the Health and Human Services Secretary's policies could have dire outcomes for the nation, including a body count. In an appearance on The Will Cain Show on Fox News, Carville warned: 'Bobby Kennedy is going to kill more people than any Cabinet secretary, maybe in history, with his idiotic vaccine policy.' He added that vaccines are 'the greatest public health intervention in the history of the world,' blasting Kennedy for what he described as fostering distrust in vaccines. 'He has expressed vaccine skepticism at every point,' Carville continued. 'Every notable public health person thinks that vaccines are the greatest public health innovation in the history of the world.' 'What he's doing is going to kill people,' he said, underlining his point. There has been widespread criticism of Kennedy's decision to purge all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory panel, citing 'historical corruption.' He then replaced them with a hand-picked panel of eight, whom he said were 'committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense,' and who wouldn't be 'ideological anti-vaxxers.' In announcing the new panel, Kennedy noted that each of them has committed to 'demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations' and that the committee would review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule. However, the moves have been concerning to experts, who noted that several members have been critical of vaccines. The fired panel members have said that their ousting signaled that scientific expertise was 'no longer of use' under Kennedy and that that decision would 'undermine public trust in the vaccine process,' at a time when vaccine hesitancy has led to the spread of measles and other diseases. The new members are set to meet on June 25 to review safety and efficacy data for the current immunization schedule.
The Independent
15 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
‘Bobby Kennedy is going to kill more people than any Cabinet secretary': James Carville warns of RFK Jr's vaccine plan
Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville condemned Robert F Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine strategy, cautioning that the Health and Human Services Secretary's policies could have dire outcomes for the nation, including a body count. In an appearance on The Will Cain Show on Fox News, Carville warned: 'Bobby Kennedy is going to kill more people than any Cabinet secretary, maybe in history, with his idiotic vaccine policy.' He added that vaccines are 'the greatest public health intervention in the history of the world,' blasting Kennedy for what he described as fostering distrust in vaccines. 'He has expressed vaccine skepticism at every point,' Carville continued. 'Every notable public health person thinks that vaccines are the greatest public health innovation in the history of the world.' 'What he's doing is going to kill people,' he said, underlining his point. There has been widespread criticism of Kennedy's decision to purge all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 's vaccine advisory panel, citing 'historical corruption.' He then replaced them with a hand-picked panel of eight, whom he said were 'committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense,' and who wouldn't be 'ideological anti-vaxxers.' In announcing the new panel, Kennedy noted that each of them has committed to 'demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations' and that the committee would review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule. However, the moves have been concerning to experts, who noted that several members have been critical of vaccines. The fired panel members have said that their ousting signaled that scientific expertise was 'no longer of use' under Kennedy and that that decision would 'undermine public trust in the vaccine process,' at a time when vaccine hesitancy has led to the spread of measles and other diseases. The new members are set to meet on June 25 to review safety and efficacy data for the current immunization schedule.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Covid-19 and RSV head data scientist dramatically quits saying she doesn't trust RFK Jr department to use it ‘objectively'
A scientist in charge of Covid-19 and respiratory syncytial virus data has abruptly resigned, telling colleagues she doesn't trust the Centers for Disease Control under the leadership of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will use it 'objectively.' Fiona Havers led the CDC's surveillance of hospitalizations for Covid-19 and RSV until she resigned in a Monday morning email. According to her LinkedIn profile, she had worked at the CDC since 2012. 'Unfortunately, I no longer have confidence that these data will be used objectively or evaluated with appropriate scientific rigor to make evidence-based vaccine policy decisions,' her email, which was obtained and reported on by The Washington Post, read. Havers said in her email she was most proud of helping to allow data from her and her colleagues to be presented at every Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices meeting since 2020. The committee is responsible for evaluating the safety, efficacy and clinical need of vaccines and then presenting its findings to the CDC. Havers said she was 'grateful' for the work she had taken part in 'that has provided decision-makers with real-time, high-quality, rigorous scientific evidence that have been used to track disease severity over time, tailor vaccine messaging to groups at highest risk for severe disease and provide critical inputs for vaccine cost-effectiveness analyses.' Last week, Kennedy announced his removal of all 17 members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices. The move was made to restore "public trust above any pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,' Kennedy said in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. But he later replaced committee members with people who have been critical of vaccines. Kennedy had said his picks were 'committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense.' Havers' resignation follows the quitting of CDC Covid-19 vaccine adviser Lakshmi Panagiotakopoulos and Melinda Wharton, a CDC vaccine official who oversaw the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.
CBS News
4 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
CDC official overseeing COVID hospitalization data resigns after RFK Jr.'s vaccine orders
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official who led the agency's network to study hospitalization trends from infectious diseases like COVID-19 has resigned in protest following Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s orders to change the agency's vaccine recommendations and the committee that makes them. Dr. Fiona Havers' last day at the CDC was Monday, according to an announcement sent by an agency official to her branch within the agency's Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division. They received the notice shortly after Reuters first reported on the resignation. "I no longer have confidence that these data will be used objectively or evaluated with appropriate scientific rigor to make evidence-based vaccine policy decisions," Havers wrote in an email sent to colleagues before the announcement. An infectious disease researcher who has worked with Havers, and received her email voicing concerns with how the data would be used, described the resignation as the latest in the "dismantling" of the agency's expertise. "It's a big loss to the CDC," the researcher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told CBS News. CBS News sent a request for comment to the CDC about the concerns that Havers expressed, but did not hear back from the agency's spokesperson. Instead, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services responded. "Under Secretary Kennedy's leadership, HHS is committed to following the gold standard of scientific integrity. Vaccine policy decisions will be based on objective data, transparent analysis, and evidence – not conflicts of interest or industry influence," Emily Hilliard, the department spokesperson, said in an email. Havers had led the CDC's Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network, or RESP-NET, that collects and studies trends in hospitalizations from COVID-19, RSV and influenza. Her presentations of RESP-NET's findings have figured prominently into past meetings of the agency's Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices as they weighed updates to the CDC's vaccine recommendations. "Of all the work we have accomplished, I am most proud of how COVID-NET and RSV-NET hospitalization data, presented at nearly every public ACIP meeting since 2020, have been critical drivers of COVID-19 and RSV vaccine policy in recent years," Havers wrote in her email. The CDC's vaccine recommendations are closely watched by doctors and health authorities because they are tied to federal policies enabling access to vaccines, including liability protections and requirements for insurance coverage. Usually, the ACIP deliberates and votes on updated recommendations, which are later adopted by the CDC director. In an unprecedented move this year, Kennedy bypassed the process to order his own changes. In late May, Kennedy first ordered narrowing the guidance to exclude children and pregnant women without other underlying health conditions, sidestepping an ACIP process that had been already underway to discuss changing the recommendations. He then fired the current roster of ACIP members in June — in what he described as a "clean sweep" of the panel — as well as removed the agency officials who oversee the panel's vetting and agenda. In a viewpoint published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the 17 members of the panel fired by Kennedy denounced the health secretary for "dismantling the process by which vaccines have been recommended." "As former ACIP members, we are deeply concerned that these destabilizing decisions, made without clear rationale, may roll back the achievements of US immunization policy, impact people's access to lifesaving vaccines, and ultimately put US families at risk of dangerous and preventable illnesses," they wrote. Kennedy later replaced the panel with a list of picks that included several allies of the health secretary and opponents of recommendations for COVID-19 and some other vaccines. The committee's new membership is set to meet next week to vote on updated vaccine recommendations for COVID-19 and RSV, among other diseases.
CBS News
4 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
CDC official overseeing COVID hospitalization data resigns after RFK Jr.'s orders to change vaccine recommendations
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official who led the agency's network to study hospitalization trends from infectious diseases like COVID-19 has resigned in protest following Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s orders to change the agency's vaccine recommendations and the committee that makes them. Dr. Fiona Havers' last day at the CDC was Monday, according to an announcement sent by an agency official to her branch within the agency's Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division. They received the notice shortly after Reuters first reported on the resignation. "I no longer have confidence that these data will be used objectively or evaluated with appropriate scientific rigor to make evidence-based vaccine policy decisions," Havers wrote in an email sent to colleagues before the announcement. An infectious disease researcher who has worked with Havers, and received her email voicing concerns with how the data would be used, described the resignation as the latest in the "dismantling" of the agency's expertise. "It's a big loss to the CDC," the researcher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told CBS News. CBS News sent a request for comment to the CDC about the concerns that Havers expressed, but did not hear back from the agency's spokesperson. Instead, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services responded. "Under Secretary Kennedy's leadership, HHS is committed to following the gold standard of scientific integrity. Vaccine policy decisions will be based on objective data, transparent analysis, and evidence – not conflicts of interest or industry influence," Emily Hilliard, the department spokesperson, said in an email. Havers had led the CDC's Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network, or RESP-NET, that collects and studies trends in hospitalizations from COVID-19, RSV and influenza. Her presentations of RESP-NET's findings have figured prominently into past meetings of the agency's Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices as they weighed updates to the CDC's vaccine recommendations. "Of all the work we have accomplished, I am most proud of how COVID-NET and RSV-NET hospitalization data, presented at nearly every public ACIP meeting since 2020, have been critical drivers of COVID-19 and RSV vaccine policy in recent years," Havers wrote in her email. The CDC's vaccine recommendations are closely watched by doctors and health authorities because they are tied to federal policies enabling access to vaccines, including liability protections and requirements for insurance coverage. Usually, the ACIP deliberates and votes on updated recommendations, which are later adopted by the CDC director. In an unprecedented move this year, Kennedy bypassed the process to order his own changes. In late May, Kennedy first ordered narrowing the guidance to exclude children and pregnant women without other underlying health conditions, sidestepping an ACIP process that had been already underway to discuss changing the recommendations. He then fired the current roster of ACIP members in June — in what he described as a "clean sweep" of the panel — as well as removed the agency officials who oversee the panel's vetting and agenda. In a viewpoint published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the 17 members of the panel fired by Kennedy denounced the health secretary for "dismantling the process by which vaccines have been recommended." "As former ACIP members, we are deeply concerned that these destabilizing decisions, made without clear rationale, may roll back the achievements of US immunization policy, impact people's access to lifesaving vaccines, and ultimately put US families at risk of dangerous and preventable illnesses," they wrote. Kennedy later replaced the panel with a list of picks that included several allies of the health secretary and opponents of recommendations for COVID-19 and some other vaccines. The committee's new membership is set to meet next week to vote on updated vaccine recommendations for COVID-19 and RSV, among other diseases.
