Category: Vaccine Headlines
In surprise move, RFK Jr.’s vaccine committee votes to recommend RSV shot for infants
USA Today In their first vote since appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the eight members of a vaccine committee voted to recommend a shot that protects infants against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. Clesrovimab, a monoclonal antibody created by pharmaceutical giant Merck, is recommended for use in infants younger than 8 months […]
Jul 2, 2025
A preservative removed from childhood vaccines 20 years ago is still causing controversy today − a drug safety expert explains
The Conversation An expert committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted on June 26, 2025, to cease recommending the use of a mercury-based chemical called thimerosal in flu vaccines. Only a small number of flu vaccines – ones that are produced in multi-dose vials – currently contain thimerosal. Thimerosal is almost never used […]
Jul 2, 2025
What to Know About the Vaccine Preservative Thimerosal
NYT A C.D.C. advisory committee on Thursday voted against flu shots that contain the ingredient. An expert panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines voted Thursday to no longer recommend annual flu shots that contain the preservative thimerosal. The move gives credence to the long debunked theory that the ingredient […]
Jul 2, 2025
CDC vaccine panel holds meeting after RFK Jr. ousts and replaces expert former members
PBS Newshour U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new vaccine advisers alarmed pediatricians Wednesday by announcing inquiries into some long-settled questions about children’s shots. Opening the first meeting of Kennedy’s handpicked seven-member panel, committee chairman Martin Kulldorff said he was appointing a work group to evaluate the “cumulative effect” of the children’s vaccine schedule […]
Jun 25, 2025
RFK Jr. says US won’t donate to global vaccine effort
Politico The United States won’t contribute anymore to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, until the global health organization has “re-earned the public trust,” U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Wednesday. In an inflammatory video speech delivered to the Gavi pledging summit, seen by POLITICO, Kennedy accused Gavi of neglecting vaccine safety, making questionable recommendations […]
Jun 25, 2025
Millions of children at risk from stalling global vaccinations, study says
Washington Post The study noted persisting outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, including the U.S. measles outbreaks this year reaching over 1,000 cases. Millions of children around the world may be at risk because of stalling vaccination efforts in recent years, according to an analysis of a half-century of global vaccination efforts. The study, published Tuesday in the […]
Jun 25, 2025
Vaccine Panel Gutted by Kennedy Loses a Member Ahead of First Meeting
NYT Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of the panel and appointed eight new ones. Now, the board is down to just seven. Two weeks ago, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members of an influential committee that recommends which vaccines Americans should get. He then named eight new members, […]
Jun 25, 2025
Kennedy’s New Advisers to Broaden Scrutiny of Childhood Vaccines
NYT The panel will revisit the hepatitis B shot given at birth, among others. The former head of an anti-vaccine group has been hired as a special employee at H.H.S. Just minutes into the first meeting of scientific advisers appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., it was clear that the skeptical panelists intended […]
Jun 25, 2025
CDC interim leaders, in first all-hands meeting, speak of ‘myth-busting’ and ‘resilience’
STAT Susan Monarez, nominee for director, was reported to be starting to meet with senators ahead of confirmation. In their first all-staff meeting since the start of the Trump administration, the interim leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attempted to sidestep controversy and rally troops at the storied but demoralized agency on […]
Jun 25, 2025
Presentation for CDC advisers appears to cite nonexistent study to support claims about risk of vaccine preservative
CNN A presentation slated to be shared at this week’s meeting of vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claimed that a study in animals suggested that use of the vaccine preservative thimerosal can have “long-term consequences in the brain.” But the study doesn’t appear to exist. Lyn Redwood, a former leader of […]
Jun 25, 2025