RFK Jr.'s vaccine panel backs away from asking states to require an Rx for a COVID shot
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Turmoil, confusion and controversy continue today at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as a powerful committee of advisors debated upending long-standing vaccine policies. NPR health correspondent Rob Stein was watching all of it and joins us now. Hi, Rob.
ROB STEIN, BYLINE: Hey, there.
CHANG: OK, I know this is - this was, like, the second day of the meeting, right? Like, yesterday ended in confusion. And I'm kind of afraid to ask you, but how did things go today?
STEIN: Yeah, it was pretty tumultuous again today. First, the committee was forced to redo a confusing decision yesterday. The advisors had recommended against a single shot for kids under age 4 that protects them against chickenpox, along with measles, mumps and rubella. But the panel let the federal Vaccines for Children program keep paying for the combination shot. Today, the committee acknowledged that was contradictory and reversed itself on the coverage part. So now the federal program won't pay for the combined shot for the younger kids.
Next, the advisors unexpectedly punted on another controversial decision, to stop recommending all babies get vaccinated against hepatitis B in the first day of life. The committee had appeared to be poised to do that, sparking widespread alarm among outside experts, but then they tabled the vote. Dr. Jason Goldman, from the American College of Physicians, voiced frustration of independent scientific experts who had been sidelined by the committee.
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JASON GOLDMAN: Respectfully, please stop unmuting me. That is disrespectful. You want debate and discussion, but you're muting people and silencing them.
CHANG: Wow. OK, but the committee did eventually make some decisions - right? - about the new COVID-19 vaccines?
STEIN: Yeah, yeah, exactly. As you probably remember, the Food and Drug Administration had made it harder for people to get a COVID shot in many places. For the first time, the FDA limited the shot to those who were at greatest risk of getting really sick because they're older or have other health problems. So everyone was waiting to see if this committee, stocked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s picks, would make it even harder.
At one point, the committee considered recommending requiring a prescription for everyone to get a shot. But in the end, the panel narrowly shot that one down. But the committee did recommend that anyone who wants a COVID vaccine needs to first have a detailed discussion with someone, like a doctor or a pharmacist, about the possible risks. And that conversation should emphasize that benefits are greatest for people with the highest risk of serious disease and lowest for people without increased risk.
Here's MIT management professor Retsef Levi, who led the review of the COVID vaccines for the committee, justifying the proposed new requirements. He's not a medical doctor.
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RETSEF LEVI: This is ample published research that suggests some serious safety uncertainties and concerns, including potential adulteration related to MRNA vaccines.
STEIN: Now, I should emphasize that this flies in the face of overwhelming evidence that the vaccines are very safe and effective. Many of the risks and questions about the benefits voiced by committee members were highly speculative or unfounded. Here's how Dr. Henry Bernstein from Hofstra University, who was a dissenter on the committee working group, put it.
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HENRY BERNSTEIN: COVID-19 vaccines are highly safe and effective. Or, if we don't want to say safe and effective, they work.
STEIN: But the panel voted to ask the CDC to add information about uncertainties about the COVID vaccines' effectiveness to information sheets about the shots. This could increase doubts about the vaccines.
CHANG: I have to ask you, Rob, what do you make of everything that happened over the last two days?
STEIN: You know, Ailsa, I've covered a lot of these meetings over the years and never seen anything quite like this. Clearly, the committee is trying to push ahead with Health Secretary Kennedy's hopes of remaking many of the nation's vaccine policies. But between the dissension on the committee and the lack of organization, expertise and planning, they're clearly struggling to get the results they want.
CHANG: That is NPR's Rob Stein. Thank you, Rob.
STEIN: You bet.
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