(Reuters) -A new panel of U.S. vaccine advisers appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will vote on flu shots that contain a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal and discuss recommendations for use of a combination measles shot for children at an upcoming meeting.
The advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also vote on who should receive the shots for respiratory syncytial virus and influenza at the meeting scheduled for June 25 and 26, according to a draft agenda posted on CDC’s website.
The agenda comes days after Kennedy named eight members to serve on a key panel of vaccine advisers, including several who have advocated against vaccines, after abruptly firing all 17 members of the independent committee of experts.
The new panel will discuss proposed recommendations on whether a shot to prevent measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) should be given to children under 5 years of age.
The agenda did not specify who will be presenting data on MMRV or thimerosal at the meeting.
Thimerosal has been used for decades in the United States in vials for medicines and vaccines that contain more than one dose, according to CDC.
Except for minor reactions such as redness and swelling at the injection site, there is no evidence of harm caused by the low doses of thimerosal in vaccines, the agency’s website shows.
Kennedy has for decades sown doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and long promoted a debunked link between vaccines and autism, contrary to scientific evidence.
He has asked for a review of all data including for the measles shot, by far the best way to prevent infection with the highly contagious and sometimes deadly virus.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru and Michael Erman in New York; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Bill Berkrot)
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