The following information is from Children’s Health Defense.
The CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, ACIP, voted to recommend that children under age 4 should no longer receive the combined MMRV vaccine. Instead, they should receive the MMR and varicella vaccines separately. The vote passed 7–4, with Dr. Robert Malone abstaining due to his involvement as an expert witness in a whistleblower lawsuit against Merck.
A separate proposal from the CDC’s Vaccines for Children (VFC) program — to limit MMRV eligibility to ages 4–12 — was rejected by the committee, with 8 voting no, one in favor, and three abstaining.
More than 5,000 written public comments were submitted ahead of the meeting, but only nine speakers were selected to deliver remarks during the public comment period, each limited to three minutes.
The vote on the hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccine for newborns was postponed due to a technical mismatch between ACIP and VFC proposals. The new recommendation under review would delay the birth dose until at least one month of age if the infant’s mother tests negative for hepatitis B. Infants could still receive the shot earlier through shared clinical decision-making.
“Any fever in a newborn under 28 days is considered a medical emergency.”
— Hillary Blackburn, Pharmacist
During the public comment period, a former CDC staffer called for the removal of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., criticizing his public health policies and his decision to dismiss all 17 former ACIP members. Others defended the existing vaccine schedule. None of the selected speakers questioned the safety of vaccines.
The meeting included extensive discussion about public trust and the quality of evidence supporting the current Hep B recommendations. Committee member Retsef Levi raised concerns about the strength of the safety data.
“This notion that we sit here, with very lousy evidence, and argue that there is no problem whatsoever is not building trust and it’s not scientific, and it’s not what the public should expect from us.”
— Retsef Levi, Ph.D.
CDC officials acknowledged that only three studies specifically looked at safety as the main outcome, and there are no placebo-controlled trials comparing the Hep B vaccine to an actual placebo. Some members raised concerns about the lack of long-term follow-up, the potential for “healthy vaccine bias,” and the use of modeling rather than real-world data.
“Everything that I inject into somebody has a risk.”
— Dr. Kirk Milhoan
Later in the meeting, presentations on MMRV showed a higher rate of febrile seizures in children under 4 who received the combined vaccine. The recommendation now calls for separate MMR and varicella shots for that age group. Some expressed concern that removing MMRV from that age group could limit parental choice, depending on how insurers and VFC interpret the recommendation.
CDC representatives confirmed that no placebo-controlled studies exist comparing MMRV to an inert placebo. Other concerns were raised about seizure risks, encephalitis, and how adverse events are communicated to parents after recommendations are made.
ACIP will reconvene to finalize its vote on Hep B recommendations.
For more information, read the full article here.
