The Food and Drug Administration Wednesday abruptly and unexpectedly canceled a planned March 13 vaccine advisory committee meeting that was to have chosen the flu strains in next year’s U.S. flu vaccine. FIle Photo UPI
Feb. 27 (UPI) — The Food and Drug Administration abruptly and unexpectedly canceled a planned March 13 vaccine advisory committee meeting that was to have chosen the flu strains in next year’s U.S. flu vaccine.
Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon confirmed to CBS News the meeting had been canceled, but did not say why.
He said in a statement the FDA will make recommendations for updated vaccines to be available for the 2025-2026 influenza season.
Vaccine committee member Dr. Paul Offit said the vaccine meeting was canceled abruptly in a Wednesday afternoon email without explaining why.
“We’re all left trying to understand what is going on. Why was this meeting canceled? It’s an important meeting. What’s the plan for flu vaccines this year?” Dr. Offit said.
Norman Baylor, former director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccine Research and Review, said in an email that he was “shocked.”
“As you know, the VRBPAC is critical for making the decision on strain selection for the next influenza vaccine season,” Baylor said.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., known for anti-vaccine public comments, told a group of HHS workers Feb. 18 that he will investigate potential effects of childhood vaccines with nothing off limits.
During his Senate confirmation hearing Kennedy said he was not anti-vaccine.
A World Health Organization advisory committee meeting is scheduled for Friday to consider what flu strains should be in this year’s flu vaccines for the Northern Hemisphere.
If work to decide the strains and get the vaccines produced is disrupted, there could be issues in delivering the flu vaccines on time.
The Trump administration’s January decision ending United States membership in the World Health Organization led to budget cuts at WHO.
Trump also cut ties with WHO during the COVID-19 pandemic in his first term. At the time of his decision COVID-19 had killed 362,000 people worldwide.