US signals 'powerful shift' in vaccine policy as RFK Jr moves to change guidance

Press Review

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, June 27: Donald Trump's health secretary and vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr moves to rescind recommendations for the flu vaccine over a longstanding anti-vaxxer belief that it causes autism. The US will also pull funding for a global alliance that provides free jabs to impoverished populations. Meanwhile: Libération looks at the instrumentalisation of famine in the war in Gaza. Finally, Jeff Bezos' opulent three-day wedding kicks off in Venice.

An advisory panel for US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has voted to rescind recommendations for the flu vaccine, The New York Times reports. Kennedy recently fired 17 experts on the advisory panel, replacing them with eight anti-vaxxers. On Thursday the panel voted to walk back vaccine recommendations for the common flu. The reason? A common (and false) argument of anti-vaxxers: that thimerosol, an ingredient in the flu vaccine is linked to autism. The Times says the decision signals a "powerful shift" in the way federal officials approach vaccines. It also delivers the first blows to a scientific process that has provided effective and tested vaccines to Americans for decades.

It's important to note, as the Australian academic website The Conversation explains, that the preservative thimerosol is mercury-based and used in some drug products because it prevents contamination by killing microbes. However, it is hardly ever used in flu vaccines today. The website explains that the argument that vaccines cause autism first surfaced in 1998 when a now-discredited report in the medical journal The Lancet was published, claiming that several children developed autism following the flu vaccine.

The Financial Times reports that the Trump administration will also stop funding for GAVI, the global vaccine group that provide free shots for meningitis, malaria and other disease prevention to people in poor countries. Kennedy says the alliance has ignored science and failed to justify billions of dollars the US gives in funding. The US being the alliance's top donor, this decision will sharply dent GAVI's efforts to raise over $9 billion for vaccination campaigns dedicated to a half a billion children in the next five years. The Washington Post's editors, meanwhile, profile Susan Monarez, a respected scientist who is acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and who could be on track to hold the position permanently. She had a confirmation hearing this week with US senators and impressed with her ability to avoid contradicting Kennedy's decision and avoid endorsing it at the same time. The Post's editors say that if confirmed, she could be a real impediment to those seeking to upend vaccine policies that have saved countless lives.

French newspaper Libération looks at the famine in Gaza on its front page and asks the question: Is famine being used as a weapon of war by Israel in Gaza? The paper investigates the chaotic distribution of humanitarian aid in the Strip. Liberation explains that the system of aid is built around the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American NGO and the only organisation allowed to distribute aid. Traditional NGOs are refusing to work with the GHF, telling Libération they believe it has militarised humanitarian aid and facilitated the chaos. Over 500 people have been killed since the GHF set up its aid distribution points. Libération also accuses the Israeli army of setting up aid mainly in the south of the enclave, cutting off aid to the rest of the population – a form of ethnic cleansing, it says.

Finally, the controversial nuptials of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos are underway in Venice this weekend. His opulent three-day wedding celebration has drawn support from Venetian business owners who are happy to cater to the hordes of rappers, celebrities and tech billionaires descending on the Italian city. Nonetheless, it's sparked widespread protests from locals and activists fed up with the added strain it will put on a region that's already suffering from overtourism. Il Giorno, the Italian paper, looks at the controversial wedding of "Mister Amazon" and Lauren Sanchez. In many ways, The New York Times says, San Giorgio, where emperors once met with popes, is fit to host the patron of Amazon.com. Protesters say it’s not about the wedding but what it represents: the Americanisation of an inherently European city, and a tech billionaire who's cosied up to US President Donald Trump.

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