To Vaccine or not to vaccine?
Just like Howard Lutnick fired the members of the two advisory boards consulting on labor statistics, RFK, jr fired the 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory board. He then replaced them with 8 new members of his choosing. Pardon me but this sucks. I know that it is likely that all of the old board were probably appointed by the HHS or CDC head under Biden and were probably all gung-ho for all vaccines (of this I am not certain) and that Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic, but that is a reason for modifying the board. A healthier dialogue would occur if let’s say Kennedy had dismissed half of the old board and added his 8 new members. The board, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, helps to determine which vaccines children and adults receive, what gets covered by insurance and which shots are made available free of charge to low-income children.
Just like the old board was probably vaccine supporters I would presume that Kennedy’s new board are all critics of current vaccine policies. In fact, one member is has served on the board of the National Vaccine Information Center — an advocacy group that warns against vaccine risks. Other members have cautioned against the COVID vaccines and have questioned the safety of some vaccines. A former director of the CDC’s immunization program says “I have spent a career of more than 50 years in vaccinology, and I have never seen the names of most of those people.” The HHS said in a statement that the new members are “highly credentialed doctors, scientists, and public health experts committed to evidence-based medicine, gold standard science, and common sense” and that the group “will demand definitive safety and efficacy data for any new vaccine recommendations.” If true then I hope it shows us the evidence that corroborates its recommendations.
One of the first actions of the newly constituted committee was to recommend that adults and children no longer receive flu vaccines containing trace amounts of thimerosal, a form of mercury that sometimes was added to vaccines for sterilization. However, thimerosal is rarely used in vaccines anymore. Then to the surprise of some of Kennedy’s critics, a majority of the panel voted to reaffirm the existing CDC recommendations that anyone over six months receive the annual flu shot. They also voted 5-2 in favor of a monoclonal antibody shot made by Merck that offers protection against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, for infants younger than 8 months. (See https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/06/26/nx-s1-5438485/cdc-acip-rfk-thimerosal-vaccines).
Also surprising to some the vote on thimerosal was not unanimous, there was one dissenter who said “There is no scientific evidence that thimerosal has caused a problem.”
Kennedy, of course, has a long history of warning about the dangers of vaccines and has been labelled as “anti-vax.” He, in his senate confirmation hearings said – somewhat unconvincingly – that he would do nothing that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking vaccines and that he was not going to “take people’s vaccines away from them.” Yet early on he fired Dr. Susan Monarez as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for not preapproving recommendations made without scientific evidence. She said in a Senate hearing that more children will die of vaccine-preventable illnesses under Kennedy’s leadership. I am surprised that she took the job in the first place, knowing Kenney’s history.
One of Kennedy’s first directives was to announce that the CDC would no longer recommend COVID shots for healthy children and pregnant women. This reverses an earlier statement by the CDC that the vaccine was “crucial for pregnant women to protect themselves and their infants.” Kennedy said “”We are now one step closer to Donald Trump’s promise to Make America Healthy Again.” Kennedy’s two major heads at CDC were with him when he made the announcement, FDA commissioner Dr. Martin Makary and National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya – both of whom I respect. “It’s common sense and it’s good science,” Dr. Bhattacharya said. “There’s no evidence healthy kids need it today and most countries have stopped recommending it for children,” said Dr. Makary who is a surgeon at Johns Hopkins is noted for his criticism of Biden’s health officials for ignoring natural immunity during COVID. Dr. Bhattacharya (of Stanford University) also endorsed natural immunity as was one of the authors of AIER’s the Great Barringon Declaration. https://aier.org/the-great-barrington-declaration/
Naturally, members of the medical establishment sharply criticized the announcement. Dr. Steven J. Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said “As ob-gyns who treat patients every day, we have seen firsthand how dangerous COVID infection can be during pregnancy and for newborns who depend on maternal antibodies from the vaccine for protection,” he said in a statement. “The science has not changed. It is very clear that COVID infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability.”
Who to believe and what to do? First, there is even less access to studies critical of vaccines than there are studies critical of global warming. For instance, I was once told that while the shingles vaccine was effective in preventing the disease among seniors, but that the probably of actually getting shingles increased dramatically between the first dosage and the second shot. Yet I could not find the source of that observation even though I was assured that it existed. Second, given all the skepticism about vaccines one has every right to be wary. Initially all the reporting on the effects of the COVID shots was positive until evidence kept mounting over possible dangerous side effects. To date, most reporting will say that such effects are exceedingly rare and findings to the contrary are labelled “contentious.” Third, flu shots are notoriously ineffective for a variety of reasons. Yet doctors keep recommending almost without caveat that seniors take the enhanced flu vaccine. Once again, googling whether seniors should not take the shot yields vitually no citations. The sole exception this one finding that the flu shot was not as effective for seniors as advertised.
https://drmatthewmccoy.substack.com/p/the-flu-shot-doesnt-really-keep-older
Pardon me if I am a skeptic. I know that there are contrary studies on the efficacy of certain vaccines out there, yet that information is not readily available. I would like all the relevant information to be easily assessable. Perhaps, if there is one good thing that Kennedy, his people and advisors can do is to make sure that the public is well informed about vaccines from both advocates and critics.
Lastly, the president has had several rants about giving vaccines to children and the amount of vaccines given. The president has also weighed in on whether the childhood vaccines should be given together or separately. Pardon me but I wish he would be quiet and let the experts talk instead. I had all the childhood diseases but one of the few times I remember having fear was due to polio. I had a couple of classmates who had polio and wore braces on their legs. There was an epidemic when I was in elementary school and I remember that my parents were scared for us, for the children in our church and Mom’s school. The Salk vaccine came to our rescue in 1955 when I was in the 5th grade. We were all vaccinated and I do not recall any of my future classmates being stricken. We later got the Sabin boosters given to us on a sugar cube. So let us all have a measured and open discussion of the efficacy of vaccines. Let us see the research that has heretofore not been published by the medical journals that are contrary to the views of the medical establishment, big pharma and the government. But let’s tone down the rhetoric and limit the unhinged remarks. There are few things more important than the nation’s health especially that of its children.
haroldblackphd.com 