Editor’s note: This story has been updated.
WASHINGTON — A planned meeting of a vaccine advisory panel will not take place next week, the Health and Human Services Department confirmed to STAT.
The cancellation comes after officials missed the legal deadline to notify the public of the upcoming meeting, which was expected to be closely monitored for signs of further vaccine policy shifts. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon did not provide any reason for the cancellation and said more information would be forthcoming.
The meeting would have likely included discussions of Covid-19 vaccines and other mRNA-based immunizations, according to someone familiar with the plans, and would have come as the White House indicated it wants to shift HHS’ focus from vaccines to food and drug pricing policy.
But in spite of the new directive, HHS has struggled to avoid vaccine issues entirely. Last week, a top Food and Drug Administration official overruled agency reviewers in refusing to review an application by Moderna for a new flu shot, sparking major public backlash. The decision was reversed this week, Moderna said early Wednesday.
Separately, the American Academy of Pediatrics last week argued before a federal judge that the upcoming ACIP meeting should be delayed as part of its larger suit disputing the legitimacy of vaccine policy changes made by Kennedy. Boston federal judge Brian E. Murphy did not rule yet on the request, but has asked for more information.
Under federal law, agencies are required to announce advisory committee meetings, including those of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, by certain periods ahead of time to allow for public input. A Federal Register notice puts that deadline at seven calendar days prior to the panel’s gathering, but a federal rule last updated in 2001 says the notice must be posted at least 15 days prior.
As of Wednesday, no notice had been posted by the Department of Health and Human Services, meaning the agency has missed both deadlines.
ACIP makes recommendations on the use of vaccines to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those recommendations must be approved by the CDC director — a position that is currently vacant — or the HHS secretary to become policy. It is rare for ACIP recommendations to be rejected.
The lack of organization for the February meeting is the latest sign of what critics see as broader dysfunction at the agency. Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill, who also served as HHS deputy director, exited HHS abruptly last week after administration officials said he would be made an ambassador. O’Neill’s departure was part of a larger reshuffling at HHS that officials attributed to refocusing the agency on politically popular issues ahead of the midterms.
O’Neill became acting director after CDC Director Susan Monarez was forced out, less than a month into her role, for refusing to side with health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccination policy.
It is unclear if the administration will name another acting director for the agency. HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said on Sunday that Ralph Abraham, the CDC’s principal deputy director and a former Louisiana surgeon general, is the senior official at the agency.
Even employees in the sector of the CDC that formerly handled ACIP business seemed to have been left in the dark about plans for an upcoming meeting. According to individuals familiar with internal discussions, Greg Thorne, a management officer at the CDC, told staff of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at an all-hands meeting on Tuesday that the ACIP meeting likely would not take place as scheduled because of the lack of Federal Register notice.
At the same meeting, Dayle Kern, a communications officer, said NCIRD no longer “owns” ACIP, despite having played supportive roles in the past, including by presenting data and information on vaccine safety, said one person who attended and who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
The individuals said Thorne was commenting on the legal process for holding the meeting, and didn’t have knowledge of whether a decision had been made to postpone the meeting.
ACIP was remade by Kennedy last year after he fired the entire existing panel, claiming its members were being influenced by pharmaceutical companies. His newly handpicked panel includes members with vaccine skeptical views, alarming public health experts.
Among other recommendations, the committee last year recommended delaying the hepatitis B vaccine, typically given to newborns at birth. The panel, however, was sidelined earlier this year when HHS unilaterally acted to reduce the number of recommended pediatric vaccines, without ACIP input.
Abraham spoke briefly to the staff gathered on the CDC’s main campus for the meeting where ACIP plans were discussed. He called the agency a family and told staff President Trump very much appreciates the CDC. His remarks were greeted with tepid applause, one source told STAT.
Helen Branswell contributed reporting.
