FDA presents contested vaccine safety data to ACIP amid policy shift

Federal health officials are preparing to bring contested vaccine safety data to a high‑stakes Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory meeting next week, as the Biden‑to‑Trump transition in Washington reshapes U.S. vaccine policy. The Food and Drug Administration plans to present reports involving a small number of deaths in young people and questions about birth defects after COVID‑19 vaccination to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices when it meets Sept. 18 and 19 in Atlanta, according to people familiar with the review and public reports. The panel also is scheduled to vote on recommendations for COVID‑19 shots, the combined measles‑mumps‑rubella‑varicella vaccine, and the timing of the hepatitis B newborn dose.

Administration officials and allies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have framed the reviews as a push for transparency and renewed scrutiny of vaccine safety. Dr. Marty Makary, the FDA commissioner, told CNN that the agency is compiling case details and contacting families, saying, "We are getting the data that was never made available before." Agency officials said the case reviews include at least one death...