Robert F Kennedy Jr’s controversial views on vaccines had been on show this week throughout an interview with CBS Information during which he instructed that single antigen vaccines for respiratory infections have “by no means labored.”
The feedback got here within the context of questioning a couple of delay within the FDA’s overview of Novavax’s newest model of its COVID-19 vaccine Nuvaxovid (NVX-CoV2705), which is meant to improve its earlier emergency use authorisation (EUA) to a full license.
The interviewer, CBS’ chief medical correspondent Dr Jonathan LaPook, had requested the Well being and Human Providers (HHS) Secretary if the wave of job cuts on the regulator was the explanation for the company lacking its 1st April deadline for finishing the overview.
In reply, based on a social media publish, Kennedy mentioned: “No, we’re that vaccine, and it’s a single antigen vaccine. And, for respiratory sicknesses, the one antigen vaccines have by no means labored.” He added that HHS is “really shifting our priorities to a number of antigen vaccines.”
Vaccine pioneer Dr Stanley Plotkin – whose work on rubella led to its inclusion within the MMR vaccine that additionally protects in opposition to measles and mumps – informed Stat: “That is one other instance of Kennedy being an ignoramus about vaccination if not different issues as effectively. And you may quote me on that.”
The feedback within the interview had a predictable impression on Novavax’s share worth, which misplaced nearly 20% of its worth regardless of vocal pushback by some buyers who rallied in help of the corporate, whereas different vaccine shares, together with Moderna, BioNTech, Vir Biotech, and Vaxcyte additionally weakened.
Novavax mentioned in a brief assertion: “We imagine that our biologics license utility (BLA) for our COVID-19 vaccine included sturdy section 3 medical trial information that confirmed our vaccine is secure and efficient,” including that it has not but obtained an official response from the FDA.
Different feedback made by the HHS Secretary this week embrace the assertion that the US will “uncover the reason for the autism epidemic and can be capable of eradicate these exposures.” Previously, Kennedy has been a staunch advocate of the debunked notion of a hyperlink between vaccines and autism.
His stance on vaccination prompted the abrupt departure final month of the director of the FDA’s Centre for Biologics Analysis and Analysis (CBER), Peter Marks, who mentioned the HHS Secretary was peddling “misinformation and lies.”
Kennedy’s place has this week additionally been known as out this week by the American Public Well being Affiliation (APHA), whose government director, Dr Georges Benjamin, mentioned that issues about Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance voiced throughout his affirmation hearings have been realised “within the few brief weeks that he has been on this place.”
Benjamin additionally slammed Kennedy’s reluctance to come back out strongly in favour of measles vaccination, recommending nutritional vitamins to deal with the illness, and the large staffing reductions at HHS businesses – together with the acknowledgement since that most of the staff should not have been fired – as examples of “poor and inconsiderate administration that can solely undermine the work of our nation’s high public well being businesses to maintain us all wholesome.”
