UPDATE 2 -Kennedy's vaccine panel breaks norms, plans to review immunization schedule

By Julie Steenhuysen, Michael Erman

CHICAGO, June 25 (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s newly reconstituted vaccine advisory panel said during its first meeting on Wednesday that it would study the schedule of childhood and adolescent immunizations and review the use of older vaccines.
The meeting is unfolding under intense scrutiny after Kennedy, who has a long history of sowing doubt about vaccine safety, fired all 17 members of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) vaccine advisory panel this month and replaced them with eight of his picks.
At least two CDC staff members have left over the changes and major medical experts and former members of the panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, have expressed concern over its reconstitution.
Just a day before the panel was set to convene, one of its newly appointed members, Dr. Michael Ross, unexpectedly withdrew from the meeting, further fueling concerns about the internal dynamics of the reshaped group. His withdrawal means the panel is now comprised of seven members.
Even before the meeting started, the panel had strayed from norms and procedures designed to ensure scientific rigor and consensus, panel members, advisers and former government employees told Reuters.
The outcome of the meeting is critical, as the panel's recommendations influence the official U.S. immunization schedule, determine insurance coverage for vaccines and guide procurement for federal programs.
Committee chair Dr. Martin Kulldorff - a biostatistician and epidemiologist who publicly criticized COVID-19 lockdowns and was fired from Harvard for refusing to take a COVID-19 vaccine - said the panel will review the total number of vaccines U.S. children and adolescents receive, which he said exceeds those given to children in other developed nations.
The group will also evaluate individual vaccines as well as the cumulative effect of the recommended vaccine schedule.
"This includes interaction effects between different vaccines, the total number of vaccines, cumulative amounts of vaccine ingredients and the relative timing of different vaccines," he said.
Kulldorff also said the panel would study the use of a combined measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) shot as well as research on the optimal timing of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine "to resolve religious objections" that some parents have regarding its use in the United States.
An area of focus for the two-day meeting will be vaccines containing thimerosal, long targeted by anti-vaccine advocates despite broad scientific consensus on its safety.
Recommendations are typically sent to the CDC director for approval but the nominee has not yet been confirmed. Nominee Susan Monarez is currently testifying at a Senate committee hearing.

BREAKING NORMS
Typically, vaccine advisory meetings require months of preparation and multiple subcommittee meetings with career CDC experts, panel members and outside experts who review scientific data and present recommendations for the committee to consider and vote on.
Agendas and voting questions are posted publicly weeks before to allow for public comment.
Instead, the final meeting agenda was posted on the CDC's website on Tuesday then changed to shift who would be making a presentation on the newly added topic of the use of thimerosal in flu vaccines, a preservative that has been largely phased out of U.S. vaccines.
That presentation will be led by Lyn Redwood, former leader of the Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy.
COVID-19 and influenza work group meetings to prepare for Wednesday's panel were canceled because no new ACIP members had been assigned, members of the groups said.
An HHS spokesperson disputed the concerns, saying the additions and scheduling decisions were made transparently and in line with established procedures.
"The normal process is for material and issues that are brought before the full committee to come through the work groups. Those are the subcommittees," said Dr. William Schaffner, a infectious disease and vaccine expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who serves on the influenza work group.