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Vaccines

Vaccine Advisory Committee's Controversial Recommendations on COVID-19, Hepatitis B, and Chickenpox Shots

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is set to vote on recommendations for COVID-19, hepatitis B, and chickenpox shots. The panel, replaced by Kennedy earlier this year with a group including anti-vaccine voices, is expected to consider changes to guidelines for these vaccines, potentially restricting access to low-income families. Public health experts are concerned that the votes may create unwarranted questions about vaccines among parents and potentially undermine vaccination programs.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is set to vote on recommendations for COVID-19, hepatitis B, and chickenpox shots, potentially restricting access to low-income families.
  • The panel, led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has a history of controversy, with Kennedy being a leading antivaccine activist before taking office.
  • The committee has not yet voted on whether to recommend this season's COVID-19 shots or whether those shots should be covered by the Vaccines For Children program, which pays for shots for families who lack money or adequate health insurance coverage.
  • A hepatitis B vaccine was first licensed in the U.S. in 1981, and infant vaccinations are 85% to 95% effective in preventing chronic hepatitis B infections.
  • The MMRV shot, which includes a chickenpox vaccine, was licensed in 2006, but studies have shown that children who get the combo shot more often develop a rash, fever, and seizures after vaccination.
  • Public health experts are concerned that the votes may create unwarranted questions about vaccines among parents and potentially undermine vaccination programs.
  • Dr. Sean O'Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics notes that a vote that restricts the Vaccines For Children program would "take away access for roughly half of America's kids" to COVID-19 shots.
  • Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccines expert, notes that health officials used to rely on screening mothers before birth but that many cases were missed, and that newborn hepatitis B vaccinations are considered a success with no recent peer-reviewed research showing any safety problem.

Statistics:

  • 90% of infected infants with hepatitis B go on to have chronic infections.
  • 85% to 95% of newborns who receive the hepatitis B vaccine are 95% effective in preventing chronic hepatitis B infections.
  • The Vaccines For Children program covers roughly half of childhood vaccinations in the U.S. each year.
  • A hepatitis B vaccine was first licensed in the U.S. in 1981.
  • The MMRV shot, which includes a chickenpox vaccine, was licensed in 2006.

Sources:

  • The Associated Press
  • The Department of Health and Human Services
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • The American Academy of Pediatrics
  • The Vanderbilt University
  • The Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education
  • The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

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