What You Need to Know About the CDC Vaccine Panel

Summary

Podcast Summary: "What You Need to Know About the CDC Vaccine Panel" – Here's the Scoop, NBC News

Release Date: June 26, 2025

In this insightful episode of NBC News' "Here's the Scoop," host Morgan Chesky delves into the recent upheaval within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vaccine Panel, officially known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Joined by NBC News medical contributor Dr. John Torres, they explore the implications of the panel's recent decisions, the controversies surrounding them, and the broader impact on public health.

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1. Introduction to the CDC Vaccine Panel Overhaul

Morgan Chesky opens the discussion by highlighting significant changes within the ACIP. "Just weeks ago, [RFK Jr.] fired all 17 previous members of the panel, replacing them with eight new appointees, one of whom has already stepped down," Chesky explains, setting the stage for a transformative period in the CDC's vaccine advisory process.

2. Recent Recommendations by the Revamped Panel

Dr. Torres outlines the key recommendations put forth by the new seven-member panel:

• Flu Vaccines for All Six Months and Above: "They're recommending flu vaccines for those six months and above" (01:53). This aligns with standard public health measures aimed at mitigating seasonal influenza spread.

• RSV Antibody Shots for Young Children: Similarly, the panel recommends administering Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) antibody shots to protect young children, addressing a critical area of pediatric health.

• Recommendation Against Thimerosal-Based Vaccines: The most contentious decision was the recommendation against the use of thimerosal-based vaccines. Dr. Torres elaborates, "Thimerosal is essentially a product of mercury ethylmercury...it's placed into these different flu vaccines as a preservative, but in very, very, very small doses" (02:32). This move has sparked debate within the medical community due to its potential impact on vaccine availability.

3. Understanding Thimerosal and Its Implications

Thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative, has been a point of concern for some vaccine skeptics. Dr. Torres explains, "It's gonna be much more expensive to [distribute vaccines without thimerosal]... particularly in poorer communities where they tend to have these flu clinics pop up and give people shots en masse" (03:03). The removal of thimerosal could lead to higher costs and reduced accessibility, especially in underserved areas.

4. The Power Dynamics of the ACIP

When questioned about the authority of the ACIP, Dr. Torres emphasizes their significant influence: "They are the ones that recommend to the CDC director what they should be doing, and the CDC director almost always follows it" (03:10). However, the current situation is unprecedented, as the CDC director position is temporarily filled by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ("He set up the committee. He is essentially making decisions for the CDC at this point," 04:10). This centralization of power raises concerns about the independence and expertise guiding vaccine policies.

5. Breaking Down the Panel's Recommendations

The panel's recommendations have elicited mixed reactions:

• Positive Reception: The endorsement of flu vaccines and RSV antibody shots has been met with approval within expert circles, providing a sigh of relief among public health professionals.

• Controversial Decision: The stance against thimerosal-based vaccines has stirred controversy. Dr. Torres notes, "Once flu Season gets here... it's gonna cause lack of availability of some vaccines for some people throughout the country" (02:30). This decision could hinder vaccination efforts during a critical period.

6. Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy

Chesky shifts the conversation to vaccine skepticism, a persistent challenge in public health. Dr. Torres shares his approach to addressing concerns: "The first thing you need to do is... ask what are you concerned about... let's go through the data, let's talk about this" (04:37). This patient-centric strategy fosters trust and encourages informed decision-making, moving away from the outdated paternalistic methods.

7. Rising Measles Cases and Public Health Concerns

The discussion turns to the alarming increase in measles cases, marking 2025 as the second most active year since measles elimination in 2000. Dr. Torres warns, "We're going to continue to see more during this outbreak until we start getting more people vaccinated for measles" (05:47). The highly contagious nature of the measles virus necessitates robust vaccination campaigns to prevent further outbreaks.

8. Financial Implications of Vaccine Recommendations

Dr. Torres highlights the economic dimension of the panel's decisions: "Insurance companies will say... we're not going to cover this because the CDC is not recommending this" (06:38). Lack of insurance coverage can significantly reduce vaccine accessibility, particularly affecting low-income populations who may already face barriers to healthcare.

9. Future Directions and Next Steps

As the panel concludes its votes, the next steps involve the CDC director's decision-making. "The CDC director takes those votes and decides whether they're going to follow the vote or not" (08:15). With RFK Jr. at the helm, there is uncertainty about whether the established norms of the advisory process will be upheld.

10. Affirming Vaccine Safety and Effectiveness

In closing, Dr. Torres reaffirms the critical role of vaccines: "Vaccines are very safe. Vaccines are effective. And vaccines are the biggest public health initiative we've had in the last 75 years" (08:30). This reinforcement serves as a crucial reminder amidst ongoing debates and policy shifts.

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Conclusion

This episode of "Here's the Scoop" provides a comprehensive examination of the current state of the CDC Vaccine Panel and its far-reaching implications. By dissecting the panel's recommendations, the episode sheds light on the delicate balance between public health priorities, political influences, and socioeconomic factors. Dr. John Torres offers valuable insights into navigating vaccine skepticism and underscores the paramount importance of maintaining robust vaccination programs to safeguard public health.

Listeners are encouraged to stay informed and engage in open dialogues about vaccine policies and their impacts, ensuring that informed decisions continue to guide public health initiatives.

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Timestamp References:

• 01:53 – Recent recommendations by the ACIP
• 02:32 – Explanation of thimerosal
• 03:03 – Impact of removing thimerosal
• 03:10 – Power of the ACIP
• 04:10 – Role of RFK Jr. as acting CDC director
• 04:37 – Addressing vaccine hesitancy
• 05:47 – Measles outbreak concerns
• 06:38 – Financial implications of vaccine recommendations
• 08:15 – Next steps for the CDC director
• 08:30 – Affirmation of vaccine safety

Note: Timestamps are aligned with the transcript sections for reference.

Transcript

[Morgan Chesky]

Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes so you don't have to don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app. Download Today. Hey, friends. Morgan Chesky here from NBC News, bringing you today's episode of here's the Scoop. A new NBC News survey reveals how Americans are responding to President Trump's decision to strike Iran, a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court and a fashion icon turning a new page. That's all coming up a little later in the pod. But first, we're diving into the CDC vaccine panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The ACIP is a panel that helps decide the vaccine schedule. You don't need me to tell you vaccines have been an incredibly hot topic, especially since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy was confirmed when I was a kid got three vaccines. Today they get 69 to 92 jabs of 19 vaccines before between conception and when they're 18 years old. It's unclear where RFK Jr got those exact numbers. Just weeks ago, he fired all 17 previous members of the panel, replacing them with eight new appointees, one of whom has already stepped down. This revamped panel includes some skeptical of vaccines and Covid era interventions like lockdowns. And they made some new recommendations today. And here to help us break all of it down is NBC News medical contributor Dr. John Torres. Doc, thanks for being here.

[Dr. John Torres]

Good day, Morgan, and thanks for having me here. I think this is important information.

[Morgan Chesky]

So now you have this group of seven that met yesterday and just today essentially put out a pretty important vote here. What was that?

[Dr. John Torres]

Today they voted on a variety of issues, three separate issues. And those three issues, two of them are issues the way that a lot of experts are hoping they had went. Number one, they're recommending flu vaccines for those six months and above. The other one is the RSV antibody shot for young children. They recommended that as well. And so a lot of there's a sigh of relief out there in the expert communities. But the one that's causing some controversy in the community is they recommended against thimerosal based vaccines. And the reason that is causing some issues is because it's gonna cause lack of availability of some vaccines for some people throughout the country. Once flu Season gets here.

[Morgan Chesky]

What is thimerosal, Doc?

[Dr. John Torres]

This is where it gets a little scientific. So thimerosal is a preservative. And the concern is thimerosal is essentially a product of mercury ethylmercury, which is what thimerosal is. It's not a natural product, and it's one that's placed into these different flu vaccines as a preservative, but in very, very, very small doses. It' affect the vaccine distribution in some areas, particularly in poorer communities where they tend to have these flu clinics pop up and give people shots en masse. Now, it's gonna be much more expensive to do that.

[Morgan Chesky]

How much power does this federal vaccine advisory committee have in the medical community at this point?

[Dr. John Torres]

You know, this vaccine committee actually has a great deal of power in a couple different ways. Number one, they are the ones that recommend to the CDC director what they should be doing, and the CDC director almost always follows it. But up until now, it's been a panel. Experts, vaccinologists, virologists, pediatricians, these doctors, scientists, researchers who are experts in their field, recommending what the CDC director should at least think about doing. And the concern is, up until now, usually when they had a committee meeting like this, they put out booklets of what they're going to be presenting so other experts outside the committee could look at it, dissect it, argue about it, discuss it. But in this case, that didn't happen. And so there really wasn't a lot of information going in as to what they were going to present. On top of that, once the CDC recommends it based off of these recommendations, that's when insurance companies, Medicaid, Medicare, they start saying, yes, we'll go ahead and pay for that. If they don't, obviously less people will be getting the vaccine.

[Morgan Chesky]

You mentioned they make recommendations to the CDC director. I should ask you, doc, who is that?

[Dr. John Torres]

Right now, Right now they are looking at one to nominate, but they don't have a director right now. And because they don't have a director, by default, the director becomes the head of the HHS, which is RFK Jr. And so he set up the committee. He is essentially making decisions for the CDC at this point.

[Morgan Chesky]

Has this happened before?

[Dr. John Torres]

This has never happened before in my lifetime. Never something I've seen before like this. Especially in a situation like this where we're talking about vaccines that we know are life saving.

[Morgan Chesky]

When people come to you, doc, and they say they're nervous or they're skeptical about vaccines, what do you tell them?

[Dr. John Torres]

The first thing you need to do is as a doctor, and we've all realized this. You know, it used to be that it was almost a paternalistic approach or maternalistic approach of sitting down and saying, you just need to get this vaccine. Trust me, it's good for you. Just go ahead and get it. But now we've learned over the years that's the wrong approach to use, and that has caused some issues. So now the approach we typically use, most of us is sit down and say, what are you concerned about? And if you're concerned about autism in your child, let's go through the data, let's talk about this. And you might not convince them that first visit, but over time, answering their questions, getting to their concerns and fears, and they almost always surround their children, that starts building that trust. And then they start looking at you saying, okay, this is something important. I think I need to get that. And I trust the person that's telling me to do that.

[Morgan Chesky]

We know this panel is also reviewing protection against measles. We check the numbers here, 2025, already the second most active year for measles since 2000. Ironically, that was the year the US officially eliminated it. We've seen this recent measles outbreak in Texas. What is the handwriting on the wall here?

[Dr. John Torres]

The handwriting on the wall is that we're going to continue to see more during this outbreak until we start getting more people vaccinated for measles. And we are starting to see people in outbreak areas go and get measles vaccines who hadn't gotten it before. And I think what you're seeing here is that people are starting to realize this disease can be debilitating, it can be deadly. We want to make sure we get it under control. But it is by far the most contagious virus we have out there. So it's easy to spread, easy to get through communities, especially communities with low vaccination rates. And once it gets into those communities and gets a foothold, even those who are vaccinated could potentially get it as well, although not as often. And so getting that vaccination rate up there is important, Doc.

[Morgan Chesky]

It's easy to talk about this panel and get sucked down into the vaccine conversation. But you mentioned their recommendations weigh heavily on insurance coverage. What are some of the financial implications there?

[Dr. John Torres]

So the big implications are that insurance companies will say, you know, we're not going to cover this because the CDC is not recommending this. And that's historically what they've done in the past. If it's not covered, then that severely decreases the access there because either funding comes up from other areas or people pay for it out of pocket. Pocket. These shots can be expensive and for certain populations, not that big a deal. But for other populations, especially where I live and the ones around my community, even if it was only $5, that could be a stop in their minds that they wouldn't even be able to afford that. And so it needs to be something that insurance covers, Medicaid covers, Medicare covers. We just get the population covered. Because this is a public health issue.

[Morgan Chesky]

This federal vaccine advisory committee, they make a recommendation. As a result of that, a mother, a father out there where every dollar matters may not be able to get their children the shots they need that's 100% accurate. Listeners out there, Doc, may think this only applies to children's vaccines. But I want to stress that this panel also re evaluating the COVID vaccine, of course, the flu shot, what's happening with those.

[Dr. John Torres]

So right now, in the flu shot, they recommended six months and above. Hopefully the CDC does go with that, but they did take the thimerosal out. But the other thing is they're going to look at the vaccine schedules for adults, for children, and that's going to, again, cause a lot of confusion, especially if they start changing it. Because right now it's a schedule that's been well established over the years. It's a schedule that's worked very well at keeping people from getting sick. And if it starts getting changed and it could cause a lot of confusion, a lot of issues, what are the.

[Morgan Chesky]

Next steps by this panel? They issued the vote today. What's next?

[Dr. John Torres]

So the next step is the CDC director takes those votes and decides whether they're going to follow the vote or not. And like we mentioned, the CDC director at this point is the head of the HHS, RFK Jr. Doc, bottom line.

[Morgan Chesky]

For anyone out there listening to this and still wondering, are vaccines safe?

[Dr. John Torres]

Vaccines are very safe. Vaccines are effective. And vaccines are the biggest public health initiative we've had in the last 75 years. And it's important to understand that they are safe. Even though there might be some side effects, they are effective and they can prevent you from getting worse.

[Morgan Chesky]

Doc, appreciate you from the pilot turned surgeon turned NBC medical contributor, your insight. Always appreciated you. All right, we're going to take a quick break now, but when we're back, more of today's big news. Stick around.

[Dan Snow]

So, folks, you might have noticed the weather's changing out there. The sun appears to be out. The days are longer. This is in the Northern hemisphere, of course. And it's got me excited for road trips, days out exploring, and long walks to castles on windswept crags. And if you're looking forward to all that, too, I've got the perfect companion podcast to join you on your adventures this summer. I'm Dan Snow, host of the Dan Snow's History Hit podcast, where I whisk you away into the greatest stories in history. Join me on the high seas as we follow the swashbuckling escapades of Francis Drake. On the Spanish Main, we unravel the myths of the Spartans. At the Battle of Thermopylae. I'll tell you everything you need to know about how the American Revolution started and what it would have taken for you to survive the Black Death in medieval Europe. Brackets, luck. This is the podcast you need if you seek to escape into history. And we can all use a little escape at the moment. Check out Dan Snow's history wherever you get your podcasts.

[Morgan Chesky]

Taking over the helm of NBC Nightly News, a 75 year old broadcast, it's a great responsibility.

[Dr. John Torres]

Good evening.

[Morgan Chesky]

I'm Tom Yamas. You have to go out there to bring people at home closer to the store. Wildfires continue to be a threat. That massive hurricane comes the massive response. The best reporters in our business know how to listen. And when you listen, you get the truth. For NBC News, NBC News, NBC News. I'm Tom Yamas. That's what we do every night. NBC Nightly News with Tom Yamas, evenings on NBC. Hey, everyone. We're back now with here's the scoop and time for some headlines, starting with a new poll from the NBC News decision Desk. Powered by SurveyMonkey. This was an online survey over this past week sampling more than 5,000 adults. It found support for US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities was divided pretty predictably along partisan lines. 77% of Democrats opposed the strikes, 78% of Republicans supported them. Meanwhile, at a Pentagon defense briefing, Secretary Pete Hegseth criticized media reporting on those early damage assessments from the strikes. Because of decisive military action, President Trump created the conditions to end the war. Decimating, choose your word, obliterating, destroying Iran's nuclear capabilities. And while the scope of the damage is still in question, Iran's government has approved legislation that suspends cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. In Washington, the Supreme Court handed down a key decision as it nears its summer recess. In a 6, 3 ruling, the court sided with South Carolina, allowing the state to block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. The justice has said Patients cannot sue under the current law to enforce their right to pick a medical provider. And this ruling now opens the door for other states to potentially follow suit and get ready. Chief Justice Roberts says the rest of the term's rulings, including major cases on birthright citizenship and voting rights, all expected to drop tomorrow. Turns out David Bowie might have been onto something. There may just be a starman waiting in the sky. And now scientists finally have the signal to prove it. Stay with me. Two astronomers from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, just helped uncover a very weird object in deep space that pulses every 44 minutes. Like Cosmic Clockwork, the name ASCAP J1832 0911 rolls right off the tongue, right? This oddball signal was first spotted by an Australian radio telescope, then backed up by NASA's Chandra X Ray Observatory. So why all the excitement? Well, it's the first time scientists have caught a space object sending out both radio waves and X rays in sync. That combo is rare. Like spotting a UFO while winning the lottery rare. As for what it actually is, well, theories range from a slow motion magnetar that's a magnetic neutron star, to a supercharged white dwarf. That's the leftover core of a star, kind of like the sun. But the truth is, nobody's really seen anything quite like this before. Now the global astronomy squad is on high alert, scanning the skies for more of these cosmic breadcrumbs. Because the universe clearly has more secrets to spill. I mean, come on. The truth is out there. And finally, a major shakeup in the fashion world. Vogue is officially on the hunt for a new editor in chief. That's right. After nearly four decades, 40 years at the helm, Anna Wintour is stepping down. Wintour began her tenure at the Fashion Bible back in 1988 and quickly became a fashion legend. Not just for that signature bob and sunglasses, but for reshaping Vogue into a cultural powerhouse. She put celebrities on the COVID and turned the Met Gala into the fashion world's Oscars. And she even helped launch careers of designers like Marc Jacobs and Alexander McQueen. Along the way, though, she did gain a reputation for being notoriously demanding. All right, everyone, gird your loins. Rumor has it Miranda Priestley, the main character in the movie the Devil Wears Prada, was inspired by Wintour.

[Dr. John Torres]

By all means, move at a glacial pace.

[Morgan Chesky]

You know how that thrills me. Okay, that's going to do it for us today. And here's the scoop. I'm Morgan Chesky. Thanks for listening, and don't forget to rate interview us wherever you listen. That's all foreign.

[Dan Snow]

Hey, everyone. I'm Jenna Bush Hager from the Today show, and I'm excited to share my podcast, Open Book with Jenna. It is back for season two. Each week, celebrities, experts, friends and authors will share candid stories with me about their lives and new projects. Guests like Rebecca Yarros, Kristin Hannah, Ego Wodom, and more. Like a good book, you'll leave feeling inspired and entertained. Join me for my podcast, Open Book with Jenna. Listen now on Apple Podcasts.