The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is placing more emphasis on vaccine safety under new leadership appointed by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Politico reported Feb. 3.
The committee has traditionally served as an outside panel of experts designed to advise the CDC on vaccine schedule changes. Now, the group will function “more as a safety committee,” ACIP Chair Kirk Milhoan, MD, PhD, told the publication. “Efficacy will be secondary.”
He said the committee may reevaluate risks and benefits not only for new vaccines, but also for those already recommended.
Dr. Milhoan is a pediatric cardiologist and member of the Independent Medical Alliance, a group that has made several incorrect claims about safety risks involving COVID-19 vaccines, according to The New York Times. Last month, he suggested polio and measles vaccines — and potentially others — should be optional, arguing that individual autonomy should take precedence even when refusal may increase transmission or illness risks, according to a separate Times report.
Public health experts warned that the new emphasis could downplay vaccine effectiveness, elevate vaccine skepticism and shape future recommendations in ways that may affect public confidence and vaccination rates.
ACIP is scheduled to convene this month and has not yet disclosed its meeting agenda, though Dr. Milhoan told Politico he hopes the panel will reexamine COVID-19 vaccine safety.
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