Federal vaccine scientists say they were shut out of one of the biggest changes to childhood immunization policy in decades. The Trump administration this week sharply scaled back which vaccines the federal government recommends for all children, dropping routine guidance for flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, and some meningococcal shots, which will now be advised only for high-risk groups, if at all. The Department of Health and Human Services said it presented the pared-down immunization schedule after reviewing the vaccine recommendations of 20 peer nations and finding the US to be an "outlier." But CDC experts say that's not what their own data show, per the Washington Post.
Career scientists say they prepared a comparative analysis in December at HHS' request, showing Denmark, whose model the administration appears to have followed, is the true outlier, recommending far fewer shots than other wealthy countries. It targets 10 pathogens, while Germany, Japan, Canada, and Australia target between 14 and 17. The US previously targeted 17 pathogens with 49 total doses, per the Post. It now targets just 11, per Today. The final decision, the experts say, came without standard review by CDC specialists or its outside vaccine advisory panel. One scientist describes staff as "blindsided."
A member of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices says its work now "appears to be irrelevant," while Demetre Daskalakis, a former CDC immunization chief who quit last year, said there was "no scientific justification" for the abrupt change. The move has already triggered at least one resignation inside CDC and renewed complaints of political interference. Outside infectious-disease experts say the assessment backing the rollback contains no new safety data and simply reinterprets long-standing evidence. Public health groups and several Democratic-led states are urging families and providers to ignore the new guidance and stick with the previous schedule.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
