"Michael Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, understood the threat these changes posed to public health and thought that he might be in a position to try and limit the damage. Osterholm directs the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), a group focused on providing scientific evidence to inform public-health policy. In April, the centre launched the Vaccine Integrity Project (VIP), an initiative aimed at presenting science-based evidence on vaccine safety and efficacy."
"Its first move was to convene specialists from across the US vaccine ecosystem to explore how a non-governmental group could help. The most pressing issue, they concluded, was to take up part of the work once done by the ACIP. In July, with respiratory-virus season looming, the VIP jumped into a rapid review of the data on seasonal vaccines for influenza, coronavirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to inform recommendations."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr became US health secretary and had previously labeled the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a "cesspool of corruption". In June, members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices were dismissed and replaced with new advisers, most of whom have expressed anti-vaccine views. As a result, access to vaccines against COVID-19, seasonal influenza and measles, mumps, rubella and varicella has begun to erode. Michael Osterholm, director of CIDRAP, launched the Vaccine Integrity Project to present science-based evidence on vaccine safety and efficacy. The VIP convened specialists across the US vaccine ecosystem, prioritized taking up parts of the work once done by ACIP, performed rapid reviews of seasonal influenza, coronavirus and RSV vaccine data in July, and has begun analyzing hepatitis B birth-dose vaccine data.
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