Scientists mobilize to counter vaccine misinformation
A group of public health experts and scientists is mobilizing to counter vaccine misinformation from federal agencies, in an effort backed by Walmart heiress Christy Walton that could eventually produce independent product evaluations and clinical guidelines.
Why it matters: It’s the latest bid to push back against vaccine skepticism the group’s founders contend is threatening to compromise federal public health agencies and the information they disseminate.
- The initiative is led by former FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg and former National Academy of Medicine president Harvey Fineberg and will operate as part of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP).
Driving the news: The newly formed Vaccine Integrity Project aims to start meeting with medical associations, state health officials, insurers, pharmacies and others next month on steps such as establishing a network of subject matter experts to conduct science-based reviews of vaccines.
- The effort is supported by an unrestricted gift from Alumbra, a foundation established by Walton, the widow of Walmart heir John Walton.
- “This project acknowledges the unfortunate reality that the system that we’ve relied on to make vaccine recommendations and to review safety and effectiveness data faces threats,” said epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, the director of CIDRAP.
- “It is prudent to evaluate whether independent activities may be needed to stand in its place and how nongovernmental groups might operate to continue to provide science-based information to the American public.”
Osterholm told Science the group will seek out guidance about potentially “reviewing government decisions and messaging to provide clear and evidence-based information” and about “the potential need for a new independent body to evaluate vaccine safety and effectiveness.”
Between the lines: The effort comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine skepticism is putting him at odds with most scientists and some of the industries he’s regulating. Some researchers fear he could appoint like-minded individuals to panels that advise the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine policy.
- Most American adults report having heard or read some false claims about measles or the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.
- Meanwhile, Idaho recently passed a first-in-the-nation ban on vaccine mandates in businesses and schools, and several other states considered legislation this year that would have banned mRNA vaccines.
The other side: A spokesperson for HHS called the Vaccine Integrity Project “a self-appointed echo chamber masquerading as oversight.”
- “America doesn’t need another unaccountable group of former officials circling the wagons to protect outdated narratives,” spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in a statement to Axios. “We need transparency, gold-standard science, and the courage to question consensus — something Secretary Kennedy and [NIH] Director [Jay] Bhattacharya are delivering on.”
