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**Hugh** · 27-02-2025, 09:27

https://firstwordpharma.com/story/5938324

Quote:

FDA advisory meeting to select strains for flu vaccines cancelled

An FDA advisory committee meeting to determine the composition of influenza vaccines has reportedly been cancelled, raising concerns that manufacturers won't have sufficient time to produce the shots ahead of the upcoming season.

The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) was tentatively scheduled to meet on March 13 to discuss which strains should be included in next season's flu vaccine. However, several panel members were notified late on February 26 that it had been cancelled.

"That was the word" that was used, said committee member Paul Offit, a professor of pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital Philadelphia. Offit and other panel members noted that no reason was provided for the cancellation, and there was no indication of whether the meeting would be rescheduled.

"We have this meeting every year. It's how pharmaceutical companies determine which strains to use," Offit said. "I don't understand. We're all just sort of left in the dark. Will manufacturers now turn to the World Health Organization to determine strains for this year’s influenza vaccines?”

The cancellation marks the second time in less than a week that a key advisory meeting has been called off at the start of long-time vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s tenure as Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. Previously, a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) scheduled for February 26-28 was cancelled, although the postponement was reportedly made to “accommodate public comment in advance of the meeting."

In totally unrelated news….

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyderx4v8go

Quote:

US measles outbreak claims two lives

A rapidly spreading outbreak of measles in Texas has killed two people, US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr, said on Wednesday.

They are the first mortalities from measles in the US in nearly a decade.

One of those victims was an unvaccinated child who died in a Texas hospital after testing positive for measles, according to the state's health department.

Secretary Kennedy, who was speaking at the first cabinet meeting for President Donald Trump's current term, did not give any information on the other victim and the BBC was not able to confirm the death.

The Texas Department of State Health Services reported on Tuesday that it was aware of 124 cases diagnosed since the outbreak began in early January, up from 90 cases on Friday. Almost all cases - 101 - were in patients 17 and younger.

The US declared measles "eliminated" in 2000, but the country has seen outbreaks in recent years amid a rise in anti-vaccine sentiment. The last US measles death was in 2015, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America.