HHS has terminated a senior advisor who criticized widely used mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, an official with the agency confirmed to Becker’s Oct. 27.
Steve Hatfill served as senior adviser at the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, or ASPR, a division of HHS responsible for coordinating the nation’s preparedness and response efforts to medical and public health emergencies. He was fired Oct. 25, after six months in the role. Bloomberg first reported the news.
In a statement to Bloomberg, HHS said Mr. Hatfill incorrectly referred to himself as the chief medical officer of ASPR and did not cooperate effectively with department leadership and government agencies. He told The New York Times he refused to resign and was pushed out as part of “a coup to overthrow” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Mr. Hatfill served as a medical and scientific advisor during President Trump’s first term. He has promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment, which the FDA has said carries a risk of serious side effects and has not been found to effectively treat the infection. In August, HHS canceled $500 million in contracts to support the development of mRNA vaccines — a decision Mr. Hatfill supported. He has been an outspoken critic of the widely used mRNA COVID vaccines, saying they lead to “biochemical havoc” in the body during an episode of political strategist Steve Bannon’s podcast in August.
Two more federal vaccine-related updates:
1. Flu vaccination rates slated to drop: New data from CSL Ltd., a global flu shot producer, projects vaccination rates to drop by 12% in the U.S. this season. Among older adults, rates are forecast to fall by 14%. Less than half of adults and children in the U.S. received a flu vaccine last virus season. Hospitals and health systems are gearing up for what could be a turbulent respiratory virus season with vaccine uptake lagging, particularly among populations at risk of severe illness.
2. Blind spots emerge in virus, vaccine tracking: Job cuts at the CDC and the federal government shutdown — now in its fourth week — are clouding the nation’s visibility into respiratory virus activity, vaccination and hospitalization trends, experts say. The agency typically tracks vaccination rates and updates a weekly surveillance report on influenza activity. That report was last updated Sept. 20. The Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, which provides updates on outbreaks and emergency diseases, has also been on pause. In response, The New England Journal of Medicine and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota plan to start publishing an alternative to the reports.
