Overview

• The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 5-2 to recommend that children, pregnant women and adults receive only thimerosal-free seasonal flu vaccines.
• The panel also voted 5-2 to endorse Merck’s clesrovimab as a routine antibody treatment for infants entering their first RSV season.
• Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 former ACIP members and replaced them with a seven-member committee that includes several known vaccine skeptics.
• CDC career scientists’ safety data on thimerosal was removed from agency websites before the vote and the committee heard testimony from antivaccine figures such as Lyn Redwood.
• Public health experts warn that questioning thimerosal’s safety could erode confidence, raise costs and reduce access to flu vaccines both domestically and in low-income countries.