The Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday it will reinstate a disbanded task force on childhood immunizations, claiming that it will work to improve the “safety, quality, and oversight of vaccines administered to American children.”
The Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines will work with the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines, and make recommendations on development and improvement of shots “that result in fewer and less serious adverse reactions than those vaccines currently on the market,” HHS said in its press statement. The first report will be submitted to Congress in two years.
The Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had backed a lawsuit against Kennedy for not reinstating the task force sooner, as reported by The Washington Post.
The task force was originally created after Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act in 1986, which also established the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, another target of Kennedy’s. The task force was eventually disbanded in 1998.
"By reinstating this Task Force, we are reaffirming our commitment to rigorous science, continuous improvement, and the trust of American families," said National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, in a statement. Bhattacharya will serve as chairman of the task force.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Martin Makary and Centers of Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez will be among those on the task force with Bhattacharya, according to a report from NBC News. Others will be announced in the future, the report said.
During his short tenure at HHS, Kennedy has taken numerous moves that have effectively undermined U.S. vaccine policy. He fired all 17 of the infectious disease experts on a vital Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel, replacing them with seven hand-picked advisers with track records of questioning vaccines.
The new panel, which is responsible for formulating vaccine recommendations, sharply questioned the evidence supporting COVID-19 vaccines at a recent meeting, and rehashed debunked theories on the safety of a vaccine preservative. A member of Children’s Health Defense gave a presentation during that meeting.
Kennedy is being sued over some of his vaccine policy changes, while Democrats on the Senate Health Committee are investigating his remaking of the CDC panel.
The new task force could bring major changes to the childhood immunization schedule, which includes routine vaccinations against measles, mumps and polio, among other infectious diseases.
