CDC panel ends universal recommendation for COVID-19 vaccine, says up to people to decide to get it
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, newly handpicked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., voted today to end its universal CO 19 vaccine recommendation, advising instead that shots be taken based on quote individual decisionmaking. Mark Stman joins us now from Atlanta to break this all down for us. And Mark, walk us through exactly what the panel voted to change today in regards to the CO 19 vaccine. Hey Nicole, good to talk to you. The CO 19 vaccine was the topic of the day before this committee. There were two key votes. The first one was whether the committee would recommend that states recommend that a co 19 uh somebody who was seeking a co 19 shot would have to get a prescription first before getting that shot. There was a lot of discussion about limiting access and push back from pharmacy groups, but in the end the board shot down that vote. It was a seven to six vote. Uh, very close, but no change. So, in other words, the the the proposed alteration that that the patient get a prescription first was a no-go. The second vote had to do with whether to recommend that uh somebody seeking a co 19 shot of any age would first have an informed conversation with their doctor about the risks and rewards. That passed unanimously. Both proposals now go before both votes go before uh acting director CDC director Jim O’Neal. And the bottom line is this. People who want access to a co 19 shot from a practical standpoint should still be able to get it just as they always have. Uh whether this conversation, these votes so more confusion is another matter. Yeah. Also, we saw the CDC panel delayed the hepatitis B vaccine vote indefinitely and reversed itself on a vote regarding MMRV vaccine funding. Those are two things that hadn’t previously occurred with a panel before. The head of the panel even said today were rookies. I mean, what was the atmosphere like at the meeting and the vote? There was there was a lot of keep in mind uh Nicole that all these folks are brand new to this panel uh and they are not used to dealing with each other talking to each other. There was confusion, there was hesitation, there was there were allegations at one point that the chairman had muted uh somebody’s microphone. Uh so it was a very it was not the smoothest most at times the most professional conversation of a of a committee like this that uh that anyone’s ever heard. But remember too, these were all handpicked by uh HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I think to some degree there will be relief that the recommend recommended uh prescription was shot down and and in the eyes of some people too, it could that could be a little bit of a surprise given the fact that uh that Secretary Kennedy is a vocal vaccine skeptic. All right, Mark Stman reporting from Atlanta tonight. Thank you so much. We are joined now by Dr. Georgees Benjamin. and he is the executive director of the American Public Health Association. Thanks so much for being with us and you know what do you make of the decisions by this panel over this two-day period? Yeah, this has been a very chaotic meeting but you know I guess we got the best we could get. In essence, everybody can get access to the vaccine now. But it, you know, the way they did it is such a way imagine being the Federal Reserve and saying we’re going to lowest interest rates, but anybody wants to do it can do it. And that’s in essence what they said. But the good news is we can get it and now the department has to sign off in a in a specific way to make sure that all the insurers will pay for it um under the law. And do you expect that to happen? I certainly hope they do it that way. If they don’t, it’ll be more chaos. Understood. Understood. You know, I want to drill down a little bit more with respect to the decision about the COVID vaccine. You know, this notion of making it an individually based decision. you know, do you think that that will deter individuals in any way from continuing to get the COVID shot if they were already doing it or vice versa? This whole meeting has been about making decisions that we already have. It’s already an individual choice. No one’s making you go get a shot in most cases. Maybe if you’re a health provider, you need to do it for your work, but in general, no. Um, it’s always been pretty much an individual choice. Change anything. Uh, you know, this panel also, as you kind of referenced, seemed to be unfamiliar with some of the protocol and uh, there seemed to be some disagreements over the course of this meeting. You know, given that they’re making these important medical decisions, how concerning is that to you? Very concerning to me. This is a regulatory body who is making important scientific decisions but for a regulatory purpose. And so I hope that they will spend a lot more time in subcommittee um h having the debates. You know a lot of the stuff that happened in the committee of the whole should have happened in the workg groups. They should have brought in more of the private sector groups that they have disenfranchised into the conversation. Work that stuff out. Work out the language. have your lawyers involved, not to control things, but to make sure you have understand what’s going on and then putting those up for a bolt and those things will be much more smooth. And what do you tell a parent who may be confused about some of these changes? I would tell them that this committee has just said that it’s um you’re eligible for the vaccine and hopefully um your insurer will pay for it and we’ll find out very shortly whe whether that’s true. And more specifically with respect to the hepatitis V B um vaccine and delaying a vote on this. So that means obviously newborns can still get this shot. But why is this a controversial issue? It’s an ideological thing. You know waiting one month after birth to give this shot was a ridiculous conversation. The reason we do this is because we know the vaccine is safe and effective. And if you get someone when they’re at the point of care, which is at the point of delivery, you’re much more likely to get them vaccinated. If you ask them to come back a month later, not going to happen. And so when do we expect this panel to meet again? And do we expect any other recommendations could be coming down the pike? They usually meet about three times a year. So unless they have a special meeting, so hopefully um few months from now. Okay. Well, to be continued. Thank you. All right, Dr. George’s Benjamin, thank you so
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted Friday to end its universal COVID-19 vaccine recommendation, instead advising shots be taken based on “individual-based decision making.” CBS News senior national correspondent Mark Strassmann breaks down the decision. Then, Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, joins with his reaction.
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