ACIP at Crossroads: Evidence vs. Politics in COVID Vaccine Policy
An Op-Ed argues that the reconstituted ACIP is relitigating COVID vaccine safety using an unvalidated PACVS framework, proposing unvalidated diagnostics and dubious prevalence, while ignoring robust VSD surveillance showing no excess mortality post-vaccination; internal dissent among work-group members and a court ruling suggesting the process violated the Administrative Procedure Act highlight concerns that policy is being guided by conclusions rather than evidence. The piece warns that replacing GRADE with a weaker evidentiary standard would undermine vaccine policy across all vaccines, and notes the March meeting was postponed, set against a public health backdrop of measles outbreaks.