Trump officials miss deadline for vaccine recommendations | Today’s news
Trump administration health officials are expected to miss the president’s deadline to deliver new childhood vaccination recommendations by Sunday, according to people familiar with the matter.
In August, President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signed the executive order that directed health officials to develop a plan within 90 days to split the combined measles, mumps and rubella immunization into separate doses. The order also requires health officials to submit plans to evaluate the “ideal timing” of childhood vaccines, develop alternatives to aluminum in some injections and improve safety monitoring.
The Department of Health and Human Services submitted a draft of the plan to the White House, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to publicly discuss internal negotiations. Kennedy clearly promised the plans by November 8 when he signed the executive order.
“We will bring you the actions and findings as they become available,” Kennedy said at the time. “We will not wait for 90 days. And within 90 days, as you have directed, we will deliver the full response required by this executive order.”
An HHS spokesman said the agency is actively implementing President Trump’s order. “The HHS Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines is working to strengthen vaccine safety research, improve transparency, and expand options for American families. This work requires careful scientific review, and HHS remains committed to advancing the President’s priorities through the scientific gold standard and informed parental choice,” an HHS spokesperson said.
MMR vaccines are manufactured by Merck & Co. Inc. and GSK Plc.
The delay in the recommendation comes amid the biggest measles outbreak the country has seen in decades and threats to the country’s long-term elimination status. Next week, the Pan American Health Organization will meet to formally determine whether the US has seen ongoing transmission for more than 12 months, which would trigger the loss of its elimination status and signal that the country does not have the highly contagious disease under control. While no vaccine is perfect, the MMR vaccine is considered 97% effective in preventing the disease after two doses.
As of Nov. 6, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 5,182 cases in 45 states. Pennsylvania has the highest number of infections and has confirmed six measles-related deaths. On November 2, New York reported its first measles death in three decades. Three days later, Wisconsin reported its first infant death. The federal government has not yet acknowledged all of the deaths after Kennedy questioned the legitimacy of the first deaths in Pennsylvania, sparking a political battle with Governor Josh Shapiro. CDC is working with a group of epidemiologists to establish a national definition of measles deaths.
Top health officials sit on a working group that prepares the plans. By law, officials from leading US health agencies must have a place in the group. The group is chaired by the director of the National Institute of Health, which also includes the director of the CDC and the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Kennedy, Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Stephen Miller, and the president’s nominee for FDA commissioner, Heidi Overton, appeared alongside Trump at the signing of the executive order.
The requested plan is the latest in a series of attempts by Trump and Kennedy to scale back the national childhood vaccination schedule, following a presidential memorandum in January and an executive order in May that sought to align U.S. vaccination schedules with countries that recommend fewer vaccinations. In August, the health agency asked the public for comments on the change in vaccine recommendation categories.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
