“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
Opinion | I monitor meetings of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). On May 10, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) granted Pfizer/BioNTech to distribute its experimental mRNA vaccine in […]
Pharmaceutical and medical device giant Johnson & Johnson, Inc. (J&J) announced on Feb. 28, 2021 plans to test its experimental Ad26.COV2.S vaccine for COVID-19 on infant children (including newborns), pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems. J&J did not include infants, pregnant women or the immunocompromised in the U.S. population in clinical trials on […]
On Dec. 10, 2020, American biotechnology company Moderna, Inc., which is pioneering the development of experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, gave a 12-year old a dose of the company’s mRNA-1273 vaccine in a Phase 2/3 study of the new vaccine. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said, “Our goal is to generate data in the […]
On Oct. 14, 2020, Pfizer, Inc. of New York City, New York announced it had received approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enroll children in the Phase 3 human clinical trial on its experimental messenger RNA (ribonucleic acid) BNT162b1 vaccine for COVID-19. The trial, which last month was expanded to include adolescent […]
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is asking federal officials to include children in COVID-19 vaccine trials.1 On September 29, 2020, Sara Goza, MD, president of the AAP, wrote a letter addressed to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Steven Hahn, MD stating, […]
Under an amendment to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP), pharmacists and pharmacy interns in the United States are now permitted to administer vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to children over three years of age.1 Currently, there are 28 states that allow pharmacists to administer vaccinations to […]
The American Cancer Society (ACS) updated its guidelines for human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination on July 8, 2020 and now recommends that doctors and other healthcare providers routinely administer the two-dose HPV vaccination series to boys and girls between the ages of nine and 10.1 Currently, the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends […]
Story Highlights Japanese children are recognized as among the healthiest in the world, while American children compare poorly, despite the U.S. spending more than any other country on health care. Japan’s vaccine policy is non-compulsory, with vaccines considered either “routine” or “voluntary” but never forced. High rates of adverse events following MMR and HPV vaccinations […]
Story Highlights The FDA recently approved a medical device known as called Monarch external Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation System (eTNS) for treating children diagnosed with ADHD. The methodology of the clinical trial used to test the safety and efficacy of the electrical nerve stimulation device was flawed, which has raised concerns about safety. There are glaring […]
Three separate families have blamed Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche’s antiviral drug Tamiflu (oseltamivir) for drug-induced very serious side effects—including a suicide—following administration of Tamiflu to their children during the 2017-2018 influenza season. There have been numerous cases reported in past years indicating a connection between the use of this antiviral drug…