The new advisory committee on vaccines of the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., voted Thursday against the use of the combined vaccine (MMR) against measles, papers, rubella and chickenpox for children under 4 years.
With 8 votes in favor and 3 against, the panel decided not to recommend the combined MMRV vaccine in the case of children under 4 years, and instead they must receive the measles vaccine, paperas and rubella (MMR) independently of the chickenpox vaccine.
Before the vote, that possibility had raised the concern of public health experts, who feared that vote and debates would generate unjustified concerns among parents.
Experts have warned that the panel’s decision could also influence insurance coverage and a government program that finances vaccines for low -income families. On Friday, the Committee will discuss vaccines against COVID-19.
Kennedy, an outstanding anti -vaccine activist before becoming the head of the country’s health, has made or proposed numerous changes in the national vaccination system, including the dismissal of the 17 members of the committee earlier this year and their replacement with a group that includes several voices opposed to vaccination.
The morning debate on Thursday focused on the combined MMRV vaccine, which protects against measles, papers, rubella and chickenpox, also known as chickenpox.
At the beginning of the day, the panel had planned to take a proposal that recommended not administering that vaccine to children under 4 years due to rare cases of febrile seizures associated with the first dose that is currently administered to children between 1 and 2 years.
On Thursday, Dr. Cody Meissner, member of the Committee, said that these seizures can be “A very scary experience” For families, but medical experts agree that they are not related to subsequent brain or learning problems.
The panel dealt for the last time in 2009, when he said that both the combined vaccine and the separate vaccines against measles, papers and rubella and chickenpox were acceptable for the first dose, but that, in general, the separate doses were preferred. Today, 85% of children receive separate doses in the first round, according to the information presented at the meeting.
Some doctors and public health experts claim that they do not know any new data on security that justifies the review of these vaccination recommendations and, in fact, many of the studies discussed this Thursday had more than a decade of seniority.
Dr. Richard Hauct, Vice President of Merck, manufacturer of the MMRV Proquad vaccine, said that it has been evaluated by clinical trials and studies subsequent to approval, and that the slight increase in febrile seizures after the first dose gave rise to the current recommendations of the CDC. Combined vaccines improve that the vaccination program is completed in time At a time when the country is experiencing a worrying decline in coverage with vaccines, he said.
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“Taking into account these trends, any political decision that compromises the clarity or coherence of vaccination guidelines (…) has the potential to further reduce public confidence,” he said before the committee.
Dr. MySheika Roberts, director of the Department of Health of Columbus, Ohio, said that one of the advantages of the combined vaccine is that it limits the number of injections that a child receives, which is useful in certain patient populations, such as newcomer immigrants who need many vaccines at the same time.
However, he also recognized concern about febrile seizures in children under 4 years and said that “it may be necessary to slightly modify the guidelines in this regard.”
The panel, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, makes recommendations to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how already approved vaccines should be used. The CDC directors have almost always accepted those recommendations, which are widely followed by doctors and guide vaccination programs.
In his opening speech, the president of the Committee, Martin Kuldff, defended the group against the criticisms that clarifies towards anti -vaccine opinions.
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“The members of this ACIP committee They undertake to reassure the public Already restoring the trust of the population eliminating unnecessary risks and damage whenever possible. That is an agenda in favor of vaccines, ”said Kuldff.
He later added: “We appreciate scientific criticisms of any of our votes, since there are gray areas due to incomplete scientific knowledge.”
The panel is currently debating a hepatitis B vaccine, a liver disease, but postponed the vote on updated guidelines for Friday.
Information on the agenda of the meeting suggests that the Committee could be willing to turn, at least in part, in a long -standing recommendation according to which practically all US children should receive an initial dose of the hepatitis B vaccine immediately after birth.
The American Pediatrics Academy and many public health officials support this practice that dates back decades.
Roberts said that the rates of this liver disease among children have descended greatly since it was launched.
“I do not understand the reason why we would stop managing that vaccine And to offer that protection to babies when we have seen such a great progress in that area, ”said Roberts, who planned to join the vaccine panel, but was dismissed by Kennedy.“ If it is not broken, why fix it?
The groups of doctors and public health organizations have expressed their alarm by Kennedy and their new committee. The concern intensified in May, when Kennedy announced that he was going to eliminate vaccines against COVID-19 of CDC recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women. The measure was very criticized by the groups of doctors and public health organizations, and caused a lawsuit by the American Pediatrics Academy and other groups.
The committee plans to make recommendations on the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday.
The AAP and other groups have published their own vaccination recommendations, which disagree with the recommendations issued by federal authorities this year.
In recent weeks, several states have announced policies to help residents maintain access to vaccines, in some cases when you need orders that guarantee vaccination against COVID-19 in pharmacies without the need for individual medical recipe. Wisconsin has joined this week to the list of more than a dozen states that have taken measures, after Governor, Tony Evers, signed an executive order so that the state health authorities follow the guidelines of national medical organizations.
