HHS Reinstates Task Force On Childhood Vaccines

The Washington Post (8/14, A1, Roubein, Sun) reports HHS announced Thursday “it is reviving a long-defunct task force aimed at improving the safety of childhood vaccines.” According to the Post, the move “appears to be the first concrete step to achieve HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s longtime goal of upending the current childhood immunization schedule, which recommends which shots children receive and when.” Reuters (8/14, Santhosh) adds that the “original task force was created by Congress under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 to improve the safety, quality and oversight of vaccines administered to American children. It was disbanded in 1998 and has been inactive ever since.” HHS stated that the task force will be led by NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya “and represented by senior leaders of the” FDA and CDC. The task force will work closely with the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines to produce recommendations focused on development of “childhood vaccines that result in fewer and less serious adverse reactions than those vaccines currently on the market.”