Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Thursday criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory panel following its controversial vote to delay the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella or MMRV vaccine for children under 4 years old.
Measles Cases Hit ‘Record High’ With RFK Jr. In Charge
In a post on X, Warren slammed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s tenure as Secretary of Health and Human Services, saying that “Measles cases hit record highs with RFK Jr. in charge.”
Warren accused Kennedy’s “hand-picked vaccine panel” of making it more difficult “for little babies to get vaccinated for measles and other diseases,” while asking how any of this makes “our kids” safe.
On Thursday, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 8-3 to approve a recommendation against administering the MMRV vaccine to children under 4, compared to what was normally available to children starting from 12 months, according to a report by The Hill.
This comes from a newly reconstituted panel, with 5 of the members being appointed just this week, comprising several vaccine skeptics.
However, this changes nothing as far as vaccine coverage is concerned, as in a follow-up vote, the panel rejected aligning the federal Vaccines For Children program, which provides vaccines at no cost for eligible children, with this recommendation.
Vaccine Stocks Hit Hard
The panel decided to delay the vote on the vaccine guidance for Hepatitis B and COVID-19 to Friday, with major ramifications for vaccine stocks.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) could be hit by this decision, as the stocks continue to remain under pressure throughout this past year.
Two companies in the U.S. manufacture the MMRV vaccine, including Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), which is currently the sole supplier of this vaccine, and London-based GSK PLC (NYSE:GSK), which recently received approvals for an alternative to Merck’s MMRV.
These two companies, alongside Dynavax Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:DVAX) also happen to top suppliers of the Hepatitis B vaccine in the United States.
| Stocks | Year-To-Date Performance |
| Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) | -9.24% |
| Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) | -39.40% |
| Novavax Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) | -0.47% |
| Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) | -17.79% |
| GSK PLC (NYSE:GSK) | +18.70% |
| Dynavax Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:DVAX) | -24.42% |
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