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6d ago

HHS Revives Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, Names Jay Bhattacharya Chair

The panel has two years to deliver its first report to Congress under NIH leadership.

A young child receives a Moderna Covid-19 6 months to 5 years vaccination at Temple Beth Shalom in Needham, Massachusetts on June 21, 2022. The temple was one of the first sites in the state to offer vaccinations to anyone in the public.. US health authorities on Saturday cleared the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines for children aged five and younger, in a move President Joe Biden greeted as a "monumental step" in the fight against the virus. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
Kennedy during an August event on food policy. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
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Overview

  • On August 14, HHS formally reinstated the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, which was created by the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and disbanded in 1998.
  • The revived panel will be chaired by NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and include senior officials from the FDA and CDC.
  • HHS requires the task force to submit its inaugural report to Congress within two years and update lawmakers biennially thereafter.
  • Children’s Health Defense funded a lawsuit in May to compel HHS to reconstitute the statutorily mandated task force.
  • Public-health experts warn that the move, following recent ACIP member ousters and skeptic appointments, risks politicizing vaccine oversight and eroding public confidence.