CDC

Former CDC director Susan Monarez and former chief medical officer Debra Houry will appear in front of the Senate HELP Committee on Sept. 17.

The new additions would bring ACIP membership to 14 total. Several of the proposed members have taken part in anti-vaccine activity or made anti-vaccine statements.

In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he will roll chronic disease programs into a new Administration for a Healthy America.

Monarez is the first CDC director to be confirmed by the Senate under a new 2023 law and will be the first person without a medical degree to assume leadership of the agency in more than 70 years.

The decision follows last month’s vote of the CDC’s revamped vaccine advisory committee. Thimerosal, mostly removed from vaccines decades ago, has long been a target of anti-vaccine advocates for unfounded links to autism and adverse health outcomes.

Thousands of employees across HHS were terminated Monday evening after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that the Trump administration could move forward with its sweeping reorganization of the agency.

The revamped and “more anti-vax skewed ACIP committee” at the CDC “has a bone to pick with mRNA vaccines,” according to Truist Securities analysts. Meanwhile, the FDA moves forward on having Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna update labels for their COVID vaccines.

The newly appointed members of the CDC’s influential vaccine committee meet Wednesday and Thursday under an unusually rapid timeline, with unexpected topics on the agenda.

In advance of this week’s CDC vaccine advisory meeting, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. restacked the committee, claiming problematic industry ties within the previous group. Experts say ACIP had long navigated COIs appropriately and that the new appointees risk the apolitical nature of membership.

After the delayed approval of its next-generation COVID-19 vaccine, Novavax now awaits the first meeting of the recently overhauled CDC vaccine advisory committee next week. Throughout a tumultuous season, the Maryland-based company is relying on agility and a diverse pipeline to stay ahead of rapidly changing regulations.