Washington (AFP) – A medical panel appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voted Thursday to recommend a new preventive shot against RSV, a common respiratory illness that is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants in the United States. The vote marked the first by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) since Kennedy dismissed all members of the influential group of independent experts and replaced them with his own nominees, a move that made this decision a test of the new panel’s intentions.
Clesrovimab was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a shot for newborns and young babies experiencing their first respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) season. Marketed under the name Enflonsia by its manufacturer Merck, the antibody immunization shot was shown in clinical trials to be safe and effective at significantly reducing RSV infections and hospitalizations among infants.
The ACIP panel was asked to adjudicate the next step after approval — namely, whether it should now be recommended for infants under eight months old entering their first RSV season who are not already protected by an RSV vaccine administered to their mother during pregnancy. They voted 5-2 in favor. The two dissenters were Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at MIT who has questioned the safety of Covid-19 vaccines, and Vicky Pebsworth, a nurse and member of the anti-vaccine National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC).
“I don’t feel this is ready to be administered to all healthy babies. I think we should take a more precautionary approach,” said Levi, explaining his “no” vote. Pebsworth did not offer comments, but the NVIC previously opposed the earlier-approved RSV antibody, nirsevimab.
Kennedy — who spent decades spreading vaccine misinformation before becoming President Donald Trump’s top health official — abruptly fired all 17 members of the ACIP earlier this month, accusing them of conflicts of interest.
© 2024 AFP
