The largest medical association in the United States is stepping in to review the safety and effectiveness of respiratory vaccines, as federal health agencies have ceased their recommendations without providing new information.
“They are stepping up to address a gap left by the government,” Ezekiel Emanuel, vice-provost for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, remarked to reporters on Tuesday.
Emanuel criticized the US government for having “abandoned” this responsibility under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, who has a history of opposing vaccines.
The American Medical Association (AMA) plans to collaborate with the Vaccine Integrity Project to assess the evidence surrounding vaccines for influenza, Covid-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) for the upcoming fall season.
This role used to belong to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which regularly reviewed vaccine data and made recommendations to the CDC. State and local health departments often relied on this evidence to shape their policies, providing guidance that both healthcare providers and patients counted on.
“That system has essentially collapsed,” the AMA noted in a statement.
While the ACIP is scheduled to meet at the end of February, the committee chair has suggested that all vaccine recommendations could be reconsidered, even those backed by decades of data demonstrating the safety and efficacy of standard childhood immunizations.
The last ACIP meeting was marked by misinformation, featuring over sixty misleading statements, leading to a decision to retract the universal recommendation for newborns to receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Previous meetings also saw recommendations withdrawn for flu vaccines containing thimerosal and the MMRV vaccine.
In January, the HHS discontinued full recommendations for one-third of routine childhood vaccines without consulting the ACIP or the public. Reports indicate that officials restricted the development of new and updated vaccines, with Vinay Prasad, the leading US vaccines regulator, overruling FDA scientists to impose restrictions on Covid shots and decline to review a new potentially more effective flu vaccine from Moderna.
Last year saw nearly 300 pediatric flu-related deaths.
“Even with an effective flu vaccine, we still lose around 30,000 to 40,000 Americans annually,” said Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action, during the Tuesday press conference. “Imagine the consequences if we have none. That’s a real worry with a health secretary who seems, well, anti-science.”
The Vaccine Integrity Project, based at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, released a review in August analyzing over 16,000 studies on flu, Covid, and RSV vaccines, concluding that these shots have robust safety records and are crucial for preventing severe illness and death. Other medical organizations, like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, have used this evidence to issue guidance on vaccines.
The Vaccine Integrity Project is also examining the evidence for the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine and is exploring data on HPV vaccination.
“Why is this happening?” Emanuel pondered, explaining that the US government was “not conducting a scientifically grounded assessment of forthcoming infections.” He added, “It’s really that straightforward. This reflects the issues we’ve faced over the past year.”
Medical organizations aim to convene monthly, bringing in other professional groups to determine questions—such as the necessity for an extra dose of the RSV vaccine—and to build a framework for evaluating the evidence.
Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, an AMA trustee, emphasized that the AMA has a “responsibility” to ensure the American public has a solid, evidence-based process for regularly reviewing vaccines.
