As countries in the Northern hemisphere deal with the flu season, experts say regulation surrounding flu vaccines could be due for a shake up with new healthcare leaders set to take charge in the US.
Last month, President-elect Donald Trump appointed Robert F Kennedy Jr (RFK Jr) as the US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Soon after, Dr. Dave Weldon and Dr. Marty Makary were nominated as heads of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), respectively, signalling a potential new direction for US healthcare regulation.
These recent appointments have triggered discussions about changing tides in the US vaccine landscape. As part of his "Make America Healthy Again" campaign, RFK Jr has said, "If you want a vaccine, you ought to be able to get a vaccine, but you ought to know the safety profile and the risk profile of that vaccine and the efficacy of that vaccine -- and that's it."
Weldon, a former congressman for Florida has publicly questioned vaccine safety, whilst RFK Jr has openly criticized the vaccine litigation process and the current approval process for flu vaccines amongst other things raising concerns in public health and policy circles. Meanwhile, Makary had openly opposed vaccine mandates during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"I think having one of the most prominent voices of the anti-vaccine movement in a position like Secretary of the HHS will only decrease vaccination rates," says Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Maryland, US. The policy stance taken by these officials will be critical to stem vaccine hesitancy among the general public. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that in the 2023-24 flu season, vaccination coverage with ≥1 dose of flu vaccine landed at 55.4% amongst children aged six months to 17 years old. This is the lowest vaccination rate seen in this population since the 2011-2012 flu season.
When asked about the impact of these nominations at a recent conference, Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at the FDA said, "I don't doubt that we are going to have a very vigorous dialogue about the benefits and risks of vaccines."
RFK Jr's "long record of distrust and skepticism towards vaccines" is causing anxiety amongst public heath advocates, who expect a climate of hostility and ambivalence from the potential HHS head, says Dr. Jason Schwartz, associate professor of public health, at the Yale Institute for Global Health in New Haven, Connecticut.