US CDC data chief resigns before vaccine meeting

US CDC official overseeing COVID-19 and RSV hospitalization data, has raised significant concerns regarding the integrity of vaccine policy decisions under the current administration. Citing apprehensions about the objectivity and scientific rigor with which her data would be utilized, Havers stepped down prior to a crucial vaccine meeting where new advisory panel members were set to vote on booster recommendations . Her departure underscores a troubling trend within public health agencies where political influences may compromise evidence-based decision-making.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will soon vote on a shot preservative that contains mercury, which is safely used in some flu jabs but has been incorrectly linked to autism in the past. 

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, will hear a presentation about the preservative, called thimerosal, at a planned meeting on June 26. The panel will also vote on “thimerosal-containing vaccine” recommendations, according to a draft agenda for the two-day meeting posted Wednesday. 

In the speech he gave on the Senate floor explaining his decision, Cassidy said that he’d vote to confirm Kennedy only because he had extracted a number of concessions from the nominee—chief among them that he would preserve, “without changes,” the very CDC committee Kennedy overhauled this week. Since then, Cassidy has continued to give Kennedy the benefit of the doubt. On Monday, after Kennedy dismissed all 17 members of the vaccine advisory committee, Cassidy posted on X that he was working with Kennedy to prevent the open roles from being filled with “people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion.”

COVID and RSV data collected by her team had been used in more than 20 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 15 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports issued by the CDC.

The newly installed vaccine panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, is expected to meet June 25-27 to vote on the use of COVID-19 boosters and other vaccines by the American public.

Havers' resignation is particularly alarming given her pivotal role in collecting critical hospitalization data that informs vaccine strategy . The context surrounding her exit involves recent changes initiated by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has replaced members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with individuals who have expressed skepticism toward mRNA vaccines . This shift raises questions about whether future vaccine policies will be grounded in solid scientific evidence or swayed by political agendas.

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Sara H

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