CDC panel overhauled by RFK Jr. changes childhood vaccine recommendations
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PBS NewsHour
4.1 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 18 September 2025
⏱️ 7 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | The advisory committee on immunization practices began a two-day meeting today to discuss and vote on various recommendations. |
| 0:09.0 | It's being watched closely because the committee was completely overhauled by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. |
| 0:15.6 | When he fired the previous members and replaced them, on the agenda, big questions about vaccines for hepatitis B |
| 0:22.6 | and the measles, mumps, rubella, and varicela. Allie Rogan has more. That's right, William. |
| 0:28.2 | Today, the committee met and took its first votes towards changing the schedule for childhood vaccines. |
| 0:33.8 | Just a short time ago, the committee voted to recommend against children under the age of four |
| 0:39.0 | getting the combined measles, mums, rubella, and varicella vaccine. |
| 0:43.3 | While many kids don't get the shot that way, it was part of a larger conversation today |
| 0:47.8 | about limiting access to some vaccines for some children. |
| 0:51.9 | Joining me now to discuss the meeting is Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO |
| 0:55.6 | of Resolve to Save Lives and former CDC director under President Obama. He's also the author |
| 1:01.5 | of the forthcoming book, The Formula for Better Health, How to Save Millions of Lives, Including |
| 1:07.1 | Your Own. Dr. Frieden, thank you so much for joining us. What is your reaction to |
| 1:11.3 | the changes that ASIP was discussing and voted on today? |
| 1:17.2 | There are a few things that were clear from today's meetings. The first, which was reassuring, |
| 1:22.4 | was that the CDC staff presentations were extremely high quality. They were what we've seen for year after year, |
| 1:29.4 | where we have some of the best vaccine scientists who dedicate their lives to protecting kids, |
| 1:35.7 | presenting really good information about what works and what doesn't. That was encouraging. |
| 1:40.2 | Less encouraging was the kind of questions and discussions from the current members of the committee, |
| 1:45.3 | some of whom were very clear and very focused and scientific, some of whom seemed to dismiss |
| 1:50.8 | data and say, you know, it's not about the data, it's about trust, it's about safety, it's about |
| 1:55.2 | concerns. So the process was concerning. The voting was actually quite confusing, so much so that one of the |
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