Overview

• The newly appointed seven-member ACIP, led by Martin Kulldorff, convened in Atlanta after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the previous 17 advisers.
• By a 5-2 vote, the panel recommended Merck’s clesrovimab, branded Enflonsia, for infants entering their first RSV season as a tool to reduce hospitalizations.
• Members plan to vote on recommended flu vaccine strains for this fall and debate the continued use of thimerosal despite extensive research showing no link to autism.
• The committee has launched working groups to conduct a systematic review of the cumulative effects of the childhood vaccine schedule, including reassessments of hepatitis B timing.
• Medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association have criticized the overhaul, warning that the new members lack sufficient vaccine expertise.