Top FDA vaccine official says RFK Jr. nomination is a chance for scientists to make the case for vaccines
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) head of vaccine safety says that President-elect Donald Trump’s embrace of vaccine skeptics could be an opportunity for the science community to teach the public about the value of these life-saving drugs. However, if these efforts fail it could lead to “natural consequences.”
The FDA’s Peter Marks made the remarks Thursday at the Jefferies (JEF+2.60%) London Healthcare Conference. Marks is the current director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at the FDA. The center ensures the safety and effectiveness of biological products, including vaccines.
Marks said now is the chance for scientists to make the case for vaccines, as Trump has named noted anti-vaccine crusader Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his pick to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Bloomberg is also reporting that Trump is likely to pick surgeon and public health researcher Marty Makary as the next head of the FDA. Previously, Makary has criticized the agency’s approval of COVID-19 booster vaccines. Additionally, he has written several op-eds on the pandemic including one claiming that the U.S. would achieve herd immunity by April 2021 and a more recent one arguing that vaccines shouldn’t be recommended universally for lower-risk patients.
Marks said that if public health officials fail to make the case for vaccines there will be consequences.
“If that doesn’t work, and everything runs wild in the opposite direction, just as your kids learn natural consequences — if you put your hand on a hot oven, you will get burned, et cetera, that kind of thing — the American public will learn the natural consequences of what happens if vaccination rates fall too far, because we will start to see measles, polio, things that we should never see in a well-developed country, come back,” said Marks, who was speaking virtually at the conference, STAT reported.
Marks said he expects a vigorous debate on COVID-19 vaccines and pediatric vaccines but hopes a “degree of moderation will prevail” on the topic of vaccines overall.
