A leading contender is a new group led by Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert and the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.
Osterholm is launching the Vaccine Integrity Project at CIDRAP as a potential alternative to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has called the new ACIP members a “radical departure” from the committee’s mission of protecting kids.
Its recommendations guide what vaccinations are required for attending public school and what shots insurance covers.
ACIP was formed in 1972 as an independent panel of experts to educate the federal government on vaccines.
The committee —composed of experts including pediatricians, geriatricians, infectious disease doctors, immunologists and vaccinologists — has three regular meetings a year to pore over the evidence for new or updated vaccines.
The committee also recommended against the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine after it was linked to rare but potentially deadly blood clots. »