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Anxieties converge over newly remade CDC advisory panel

Health and Health Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr's remade vaccine advisory panel kicked off its two-day meeting Wednesday despite calls to delay the proceedings, including by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the HELP Committee chairman who cast the deciding vote to confirm Kennedy.

© The Hill, Greg Nash

The meeting was marked by drama even before it started.

Kennedy gutted the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) less than two weeks ago and appointed eight new members just days later. Normally, panelists are vetted for months, if not years before joining. On Tuesday, one of the eight panelists resigned, leaving just seven remaining members to vote.

At the outset, the panel’s new chair Martin Kulldorff made clear the new priorities.

Kulldorff, formerly a professor of medicine at Harvard, said people should be free to share their skepticism of vaccines and “no questions should be off limits.”

He criticized “some media outlets” for labeling panel members as anti-vaccine, which he said "further feeds the flames of vaccine hesitancy.”

Wednesday’s portion of the meeting was marred by technical glitches and ran long, but the topics were relatively uncontroversial.

But panelists on Thursday will hear a presentation by Lyn Redwood, a former leader of Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group founded and chaired by Kennedy before he became HHS Secretary. Redwood will present recommendations on a version of the flu vaccine that contains thimerosal, a preservative long targeted by anti-vaccine activists.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also does not yet have a director to sign off on the panel's recommendations. The Trump administration's nominee to lead the agency, Susan Monarez, was testifying in Cassidy's committee for her confirmation hearing.

Monarez said she supports vaccines and does not see a causal link between vaccines and autism.

"I think vaccines save lives. I think that we need to continue to support the promotion of utilization of vaccines," Monarez said.

During the hearing, Cassidy lamented ACIP's “rushed” meeting with a diminished panel.

“Given that there is no confirmed CDC director, along with an ACIP panel which has very few members, many of whom lack broad vaccine and … immunological expertise, there are concerns about the rushed nature of this process,” Cassidy said.

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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