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US Secretary of Health, Robert Kennedy Jr., fired all members of the Top Vaccine Advisory Committee. This is a proactive step that can change the country’s vaccination policy.
On Monday, the Health and Human Services Department said it had removed 17 members of the Vaccination Practices Advisory Committee. Kennedy, an outspoken vaccine skeptic, said its members are reshaping the panel to restore public confidence, claiming there is a conflict of interest.
“The committee will no longer function as a rubber stamp on the industry’s profitable agenda,” Kennedy said in a statement. He added that former President Joe Biden appointed most of its members last year, and their term was set until 2028.
The committee has up to 19 voting members who are independent physicians and health authorities and do not work for the government. The group is organized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States and usually meets three times a year. It also includes non-voting organizations such as the American Medical Association.
A health ministry spokesperson declined to say whether new members of the committee have been identified. The committee is scheduled to hold its next meeting this month.
Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy” committee report from May points out that kids today are getting more shots than they have in the past decades. All 50 US states needed some form of vaccine mandate to attend public schools, but European countries, including the UK, did not require childhood vaccinations, the report says.
Kennedy’s hostility towards vaccines has punished the pharmaceutical companies that make them. Moderna, best known for its Covid-19 vaccine, has sunk 32% stake this year, with Pfizer stocks falling nearly 10%.
