VACCINES

Vaccine panel poised to recommend ending hep B vaccinations at birth

Adobe

The first day of the latest Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting was a doozy: a 30-year-old recommendation that all babies born in the U.S. be vaccinated at birth against hepatitis B seems likely to end. 

Infectious diseases experts say the move could result in more than a thousand babies contracting the highly infectious virus each year, a chronic disease that can lead to premature death. The final vote was delayed until today, but yesterday’s discussion suggests that members are planning to overturn the existing policy with few dissenters (though it did get testy, thanks in part to pediatrician Cody Meissner). 

It’s setting up to be a big win for health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the anti-vaccine movement that supports him, even though hepatitis B shots have been given for decades and the current body of evidence indicates they are safe. 

What else to expect for today? Presentations from two controversial figures: Tracy Beth Hoeg, the newly-named FDA drug center head, and Aaron Siri, Kennedy’s former personal attorney, who has represented people who have allegedly been harmed by vaccines. Senate health leader Bill Cassidy (R-La.) called the ACIP “totally discredited” on Thursday upon learning that Siri would be testifying.

For the full roundup of yesterday’s meeting from my colleagues, read on.

POLITICS

Time running out on an ACA tax credit extension

The prospect of extending the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits remains dim.

The extra subsidies that Democrats began providing during the pandemic to lower premiums expire on Dec. 31. Senate Democrats are proposing a three-year extension, and Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) promised to bring a vote on the subsidies’ extension to the floor. 

But significant obstacles remain. Senate Republicans are opposed to an extension of that length, but they also have yet to agree amongst themselves on their position. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) seems to have thrown in the towel on finding common ground with the GOP. And no matter what happens next, it’s clear Democrats plan to make health care affordability a key issue in next year’s midterm elections.  

Read more from STAT’s John Wilkerson. 

FIREBRAND

Vinay Prasad, behind closed doors

Vinay Prasad, the Food and Drug Administration’s embattled vaccines regulator, blamed “misleading media narratives” for escalating criticism of his leadership, a day after 12 former FDA commissioners said his proposed changes to vaccine policy would have dire consequences for American public health.

Speaking yesterday at a New York investor conference closed to the public and press, Prasad defended his plan, which would require manufacturers to conduct longer and larger studies before updating vaccines, as a matter of modernizing FDA policy. He did not address his claim that the Covid-19 vaccine killed 10 children. 

Prasad’s brief tenure at the FDA has been marked by power struggles and a chaotic work environment. Read on for more of Prasad’s remarks in this closed-door meeting, courtesy of STAT’s Damien Garde and Lizzy Lawrence.