STAT+: With U.S. vaccine policy in flux, four members of CDC advisory panel receive termination notices
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Four members of the 19-person expert panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccination policy have been informed that their status as special government employees has been terminated \u2014 a development that throws into question their ability to continue to work on the body, STAT has learned.<\/p>\n
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has been in the crosshairs<\/a> of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently pre-empted the group\u2019s plan to revise guidance<\/a> on use of Covid-19 vaccines at its next scheduled meeting in late June by issuing his own recommendations<\/a> \u2014 which was unprecedented.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is not clear whether the terminations are the result of political machinations, or of a bureaucratic slip-up due to cuts to the number of staff in the offices that handle the issuance of special government employee contracts. Though members of ACIP are appointed to four-year terms, their SGE contracts must be renewed annually. In the past, those renewals were routine affairs, people familiar with the process said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Continue to STAT+ to read the full story\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n