WASHINGTON - The CDC's new advisers are debating changing the guidance for childhood vaccines.
Thursday marked day one of meetings focusing on the shots kids receive. Friday's meeting is expected to be more about COVID vaccine guidance.
What we know:
There's a cast of new members sit on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices -- all handpicked by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
They're the ones who provide guidance to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how vaccines should be used.
"The fact is, we are qualified vaccine scientists that let the data speak. That is always how science should operate," Committee Chair Martin Kulldorff said.
Usually, most of us do not pay much attention to these meetings, but under HHS Secretary RFK Jr., the experts have all been swapped out, including five new members added just this week.
Now, the whole thing is under a microscope. This morning's discussion revolved around whether the existing CDC recommendations for the MMR vaccine for kids under four should be overhauled.
Big picture view:
Also, the committee is in talks to partially roll back a longstanding recommendation for all babies to get a Hepatitis B vaccine right after they're born.
It is important to note that the American Academy of Pediatrics is boycotting these meetings, arguing "federal vaccine policy is no longer a credible process."
"I think what the AAP is doing is moving them to irrelevance and the importance of the AAP is going to wane if they refuse to participate in these conversations," committee member Cody Meissner said.
The group is meeting again tomorrow to vote on COVID-19 vaccines for this fall season.
To be clear, their votes aren't the final say -- they do have to be approved by the CDC director.