An advisory committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to launch a review into COVID-19 vaccines. A document from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) reveals that the group will reassess mRNA alongside the vaccines’ effectiveness and safety.
“The purpose of this [workgroup] is to review available data, as well as clinical and scientific knowledge, to support the development of recommendations for ACIP consideration that are used to advise the Director of the CDC,” the document states, adding that the workgroup’s findings may enable the committee to “revise or withdraw” their recommendations regarding the vaccine.
Three primary areas to be addressed by the assessment include “risk-benefit and cost-benefit analyses of existing and newly FDA-authorized mRNA and other COVID-19 immunizations, and immunization schedules;” gaps in scientific and clinical knowledge, and adverse events associated with the inoculation.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed and replaced members of the ACIP earlier this year in an effort to restore trust and reduce conflicts of interest.
The review of the COVID-19 vaccine comes as the CDC previously pulled its recommendation that healthy children and pregnant women receive the inoculation. At the time, Kennedy said he “couldn’t be more pleased” to share that the “vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule.”
“Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot, despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children,” he said.
