AMA Steps In to Review Vaccine Safety as US Government Retreats from Recommendations
The American Medical Association (AMA), the largest medical organization in the United States, has announced it will help conduct a comprehensive review of the safety and effectiveness of respiratory vaccines. This move comes as federal health agencies and advisory committees have abruptly ended vaccine recommendations without presenting any new scientific data to justify these decisions.
Filling a Government-Created Void
Ezekiel Emanuel, vice-provost for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, stated bluntly to journalists that the AMA is "filling a void that the government created." He further criticized the US government for having "abdicated" this crucial responsibility under Robert F Kennedy Jr, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and a longtime anti-vaccine critic.
The AMA will partner with the Vaccine Integrity Project to meticulously review all available evidence concerning vaccines for influenza, Covid-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) ahead of the fall season. For decades, this critical work fell under the purview of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which regularly convened to discuss vaccine evidence and formulate recommendations for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A System in Collapse
"That system has now effectively collapsed," the AMA declared in a formal statement. States, local health departments, healthcare providers, and patients have long depended on this evidence-based guidance to shape policies and make informed health decisions. The ACIP is scheduled to meet in late February, but the committee chair has indicated that all vaccine recommendations are under review, despite decades of robust evidence demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of routine childhood immunizations.
The most recent ACIP meeting was reportedly plagued by misinformation, featuring more than sixty false or misleading statements. During that session, the committee voted to end the universal recommendation that all newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Previous meetings saw similar retreats, including ending recommendations for flu vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal and for the MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox) vaccine.
Government Actions and Public Health Threats
In a concerning development this January, the HHS stopped fully recommending one-third of routine childhood vaccines without seeking input from the ACIP or the public. Officials have also reportedly limited the development of new and updated vaccines. Vinay Prasad, the top US vaccines regulator, has been accused of overruling scientists at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to place restrictions on Covid-19 shots and refusing to review a new, potentially more effective flu vaccine from Moderna.
The public health stakes are alarmingly high. Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action, an organization dedicated to electing Democratic scientists and doctors, emphasized the danger at a recent press conference. "With a good flu vaccine, we still lose 30,000 to 40,000 Americans a year," Naughton stated. "Think about what happens if we have none. That is a threat when you have a health secretary that is so hostile to evidence and science." This warning follows the tragic statistic that nearly 300 children died from the flu last year alone.
The Evidence-Based Response
The Vaccine Integrity Project, based at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), released a significant review in August. After examining more than 16,000 studies on flu, Covid-19, and RSV vaccines, the project found the shots have strong safety records and are vital for protecting against severe illness and death. This evidence has been used by major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, to issue their own vaccine guidance.
The project has also recently reviewed the evidence supporting the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine and is currently analyzing data on HPV vaccination. Ezekiel Emanuel posed a critical question: "Why are they doing this?" His answer was direct: because the US government is "not doing a scientifically based analysis of impending infections. It’s just that simple. This is a testament to the problems we’ve had over the last year."
A New Framework for Evaluation
In response to this crisis, the AMA and partnering medical organizations plan to meet monthly. They will bring in other professional groups to set critical research questions—such as whether there is a need for an additional dose of the RSV vaccine—and develop a robust, transparent framework for evaluating all future vaccine evidence.
Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, an AMA trustee, underscored the organization's commitment in the statement, asserting that the AMA has a profound "duty" to ensure the American public has access to a rigorous, evidence-based process for the regular review of vaccines. This initiative represents a pivotal effort by the medical community to uphold scientific integrity and protect public health in the face of governmental retreat.
