RFK Jr.’s new ACIP to discuss flu shots, MMRV vaccine

WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked panel of vaccines advisers will weigh in on two long-approved shots at its first meeting next week, an agenda posted on Wednesday shows.

Kennedy recently gutted the panel and appointed eight new members, some of whom have criticized approved vaccines or questioned their safety. The panel will vote next week on recommendations related to “thimerosal containing” flu vaccines, and also reconsider recommendations related to the use of the combination measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella vaccine for children under 5. 

The updated agenda for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices comes a week after Kennedy announced he had dismissed all 17 members of the independent panel, which provides recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on which vaccines people should get.