RFK Jr.'s Immunization Committee Changes MMRV Vaccine Recommendations

"The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met yesterday to discuss new recommendations for childhood vaccines - and voted to no longer recommend that children under the age of four receive the combination MMRV vaccine. Instead, they recommend that kids under the age of 4 receive their vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella and their vaccine for varicella separately (MMR+V)."

"This decision comes after CDC director Susan Monarez, Ph.D., was pushed out of the organization by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. when, according to her testimony, she refused to be open to changing children's vaccination schedules. It also comes after RFK dismissed many people on the ACIP and replaced them with hand-picked officials who were more aligned with his feelings about immunizations."

"This change comes as an ongoing measles outbreak continues across the United States, the worst since the MMR vaccine was developed. So far this year, 1,491 measles cases have been confirmed across 42 states. A full 92 percent of those cases were in unvaccinated patients. This is the worst outbreak in over 30 years and the first of this scale since the vaccine was widely available."

ACIP voted to stop recommending the combined MMRV vaccine for children under age four and now recommends separate MMR and varicella vaccines (MMR+V) for that age group. Previously, one MMRV dose at 12–15 months and a second at ages 4–6 had been recommended. The committee cited a small increased risk of febrile seizures during the week after the first dose as a concern. Experts emphasized large numbers of lives saved and health-care costs averted by vaccines and noted higher vaccination rates for combined formulations given in infancy. The change followed removal of CDC director Susan Monarez and replacement of many ACIP members by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. An ongoing measles outbreak has confirmed 1,491 cases across 42 states this year, with 92 percent occurring in unvaccinated patients.

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