On Thursday, amid a lot of confusion, the panel voted to allow the MMRV vaccine for children under 4 to continue to be paid for by the Vaccines for Children program. But on Friday morning, they reversed course. After a second vote on the same question, they removed the vaccine from that program, which covers vaccines for many low-income children. Coverage by Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid will also be affected by the vote and may not cover these shots anymore.
The moves to overhaul the children’s vaccine schedule represent the latest victory in Secretary Kennedy’s long-running campaign to reshape policy. There was vocal opposition to the proposed changes from representatives of major medical groups who were present at the meeting.
“A question I’ve had all along through these discussions is why? Why are we addressing this hepatitis B vaccine recommendation? Is there really a reason?” asked Dr. Flor Muñoz, a pediatric infectious disease clinician who spoke at the meeting.
The proposed changes to the vaccine schedule also run counter to the hours of data presented by the CDC’s own scientists throughout the meeting on the rationale for these recommendations.