A scheduled meeting of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine advisory committee, slated for March to determine the strains to be incorporated into next season’s flu shot, has been unexpectedly canceled, disclosed a member of the panel on Wednesday. Dr. Paul Offit, a committee member and the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, revealed that federal health officials relayed the cancelation news via email on Wednesday afternoon. This abrupt decision was made devoid of any explanation, as per Offit.
The Department of Health and Human Services, the governing body overseeing the FDA, is yet to respond to queries regarding this cancelation at the time of this report. This development occurs amidst a notably severe flu season in the United States, with a reported 86 child deaths and 19,000 adult fatalities so far, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Traditionally, the FDA convenes this meeting each spring to gather recommendations on the strains to be included in the forthcoming flu vaccine, a critical process as the flu virus mutates annually, necessitating timely updates to ensure optimal protection. By settling on the strains in the spring, vaccine manufacturers have adequate time to produce the necessary shots for the ensuing fall season.
The 2024-2025 flu season saw U.S. drugmakers supplying approximately 148 million doses of flu shots, as per CDC estimates. The implications of this canceled meeting on Americans seeking flu vaccinations for the future remain uncertain.
A World Health Organization advisory committee is slated to convene on Friday to determine the strains to be included in the upcoming flu vaccines in the Northern Hemisphere, a decision that traditionally influences the FDA’s strain selection process. President Donald Trump’s executive order to initiate the withdrawal of the U.S. from the WHO in January raised concerns, leading to directives for federal health officials to cease communications with the WHO.
Despite this, reports indicate that officials from both the FDA and the CDC are set to participate virtually in the WHO meeting. Notably, this FDA advisory meeting cancelation closely follows the abrupt postponement of a CDC vaccine advisory committee meeting, which was to include discussions and decisions on various vaccines, such as GSK’s meningococcal vaccine, a new chikungunya vaccine, and the recently approved at-home nasal spray for influenza.
The unexpected cancelation of the March FDA advisory meeting is likely to heighten anxieties among scientists regarding the potential impact of anti-vaccine activist and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr on the U.S. vaccine regulatory process, potentially leading to a resurgence of preventable diseases.
Earlier on Wednesday, Texas health authorities confirmed the death of an unvaccinated child from measles in the state, marking the first measles-related fatality in a decade. An ongoing outbreak in Texas has resulted in at least 124 cases, predominantly affecting children. Dr. Ofer Levy, the director of the precision vaccines program at Boston Children’s Hospital,
