Minister of Health Kennedy sweeps vaccination experts from the CDC away!

Minister of Health Kennedy sweeps vaccination experts from the CDC away!

The health landscape in the USA faces major changes. US Health Minister Robert F. Kennedy Jr. decided to relieve all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the CDC. This decision was announced on Monday by the Ministry of Health and is part of a more comprehensive plan to reform the body, which is responsible for the vaccination recommendations of the health authorities. Kennedy announced that he would like to fill the committee again, aiming to emphasize the independence and integrity of the scientific recommendations.

All 17 members of the ACIP have been recalled, and Kennedy is now looking for new experts who support his vision of impartial science. In his statements, he emphasized that the previous committees were involved in special conflicts of interest and had never rejected a vaccine, which raises concerns about objectivity. This is important, since the decision on the approval of vaccines continues to be with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), while the ACIP advises which groups of people benefit from the approved vaccines and when the vaccinations should take place. Former experts, such as the FDA chief scientist Jesse Goodman, criticized the layoffs as a "political interference" that could endanger confidence in the health authorities.

political implications and controversy

The decision of Kennedy Facht a discussion on the role of health organizations and the influence of political agendas. In the past, the Minister of Health has repeatedly questioned the security and effectiveness of vaccines and pointed out that many members of the committee are financed by pharmaceutical companies, which puts the question of the independence of the vaccination recommendations.

The dismissal of the ACIP is reminiscent of the challenges with which other countries are confronted when it comes to vaccination recommendations. One example is the constant vaccination commission (STIKO) in Germany, which is a similar body. The STIKO consists of 18 volunteers who are appointed by the Federal Ministry of Health. It develops independent vaccination recommendations based on evidence-based medicine and quickly approved numerous vaccines during the Covid 19 pandemic and adapted the recommendations in accordance with epidemiology.

experiences from the Covid 19 pandemy

The STIKO, which was constituted in 1972, had to cope with enormous pressure during the Covid 19 pandemic. She published her first Covid 19 vaccination on December 17, 2020 and adapted the recommendations more than 20 times by June 22, 2022, based on new data on the effectiveness and safety of vaccines. Safety data on myocarditis and sinus vein thrombosis also led to adjustments to the recommendations. This practical approach shows how important a continuous adaptation of user -oriented vaccination strategies is.

While the national health systems, as in Germany with STIKO, focus on compliance with evidence -based principles, the question remains to what extent the decisions of Kennedy and its successors will be understandable and transparent. The analysis of the experiences from Covid-19 pandemic will be of crucial importance for future pandemic events and could serve as a model to restore trust in the vaccination recommendations.