A US medical panel handpicked by President Donald Trump’s health secretary made its first alteration to the standard childhood vaccine schedule on Thursday, as public health experts fear more changes that flout prevailing medical advice are in the pipeline.The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was revamped to reflect anti-vax advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ideals — and among its initial moves was voting to advise that no child under four should receive the combination MMRV shot, which covers measles, mumps, rubella and varicella.Parents should instead be offered the alternative of separate MMR and chicken pox injections for their children, members decided.The combination shot has a small risk of causing temporary, non-life-threatening febrile seizures. But in a call with journalists, Sean O’Leary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, said the debate was settled years ago and that today parents already have a choice of both options.”I’m still puzzled by why this came back as a point of discussion,” he said. “The only thing I can think of is it’s another strategy to scare parents.”Kennedy has spent decades promoting vaccine misinformation, including the widely debunked claim that the MMR shot causes autism.After his appointment to the federal government, he sacked every person from ACIP, and replaced them with figures whose anti-vaccine views track more closely with his own.That skepticism bled into Thursday’s discussion: the committee’s methods were scrutinized by medical professionals in attendance who can’t vote but can offer input.”You’re not looking at all of the aspects of how we evaluate vaccine implementation,” said Jason Goldman, president of the American College of Physicians.”You’re looking at very small data points and misrepresenting how it works in the real world and how we take care of our patients.”- ‘Illegitimate’ -Following much head-scratching over language, the committee voted that the combination shot would still be covered under the Vaccines for Children federal program — which helps fund many immunizations in the United States — even though they were no longer recommending that shot for kids under four.A couple of members abstained — because they said they weren’t sure what they were voting for.The decision means some federal programs will cover the shot but others won’t, creating a patchwork system that public health experts fear could sow widespread confusion among parents.”Parents like me depend on a childhood vaccine schedule built on science and trust. Every change should strengthen, not weaken, the safety net — that keeps our kids healthy,” epidemiologist Syra Madad told AFP.She said Thursday’s committee discussions “risk eroding protections we know work.”Committee members put off until Friday a closely watched vote on whether to scrap the longstanding standard of immunizing newborns against Hepatitis B within the first 24 hours of life.That move has been met with widespread alarm by public health experts, including from some voices on the panel.Swift vaccination has proven the best way to prevent any maternal transmission of the incurable, highly contagious disease that can cause severe liver damage and cancer later in life, said Adam Langer, a CDC scientist who presented to the panel.Amending the advice could amount to a “devastating decision,” said O’Leary of the AAP, a body that did not attend the committee meeting despite a past history of collaboration. “This is in the midst of a growing wave of what we’re seeing with rumors, falsehoods, inaccurate information surrounding our country’s immunization efforts,” he said.”This committee is illegitimate.”In opening the two-day meeting, ACIP chair and biostatistician Martin Kulldorff insisted that the panel was, despite much criticism and fear to the contrary, “pro-vaccine” and will “welcome scientific critique of any of our votes, as there are gray areas.”But Wilbur Chen, an infectious disease physician, cast that defensiveness as disingenuous.”They do not intend to debate using sound, rigorous, reproducible science; they are echoing poor and falsified information,” he told AFP.Along with the Hepatitis B vote on Friday, the committee will reconvene and consider this season’s Covid-19 shot, including who should get it and who should pay for it.

The United States on Thursday again wielded its veto and thwarted a UN Security Council call for a ceasefire in Gaza, shielding its ally Israel from meaningful diplomatic pressure.The 14 other members of the Council backed the resolution, initiated in August in response to the UN’s official declaration of famine after nearly two years of Israel’s war on Hamas in the Palestinian territory.The vote came as Israeli tanks and jets pounded Gaza City, the target of a major new ground offensive, forcing Palestinians to flee south.The resolution text seen by AFP had demanded “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties” as well as the immediate and unconditional release of hostages.The United States has repeatedly rejected that approach multiple times, most recently in June when it used its veto to back Israel.”Let this resolution send a clear message, a message that the Security Council is not turning its back on starving civilians, on the hostages and the demand for a ceasefire,” Denmark’s UN ambassador Christina Lassen said ahead of the vote. “A generation risks being lost not only to war — but to hunger and despair. Meanwhile Israel has expanded its military operation in Gaza City, further deepening the suffering of civilians as a result. “It is this catastrophic situation, this humanitarian and human failure that has compelled us to act today.”Pakistan’s ambassador Asim Ahmad called the veto a “dark moment in this chamber.””The world is watching. The cries of children should pierce our hearts,” he said.- ‘Genocide’ accusation -The previous US veto sparked an unusual show of anger from the 14 other members of the council, who are increasingly vocal in their frustration over their apparent inability to pressure Israel to stop the suffering of Gaza’s inhabitants.For the first time Tuesday, a UN-mandated international investigative commission gave its independent analysis, accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza since October 2023 with the intent to “destroy” the Palestinians.The issue will be central to next week’s annual UN summit in New York.Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, condemned the resolution, saying  that “for some members of the Council, this is a performance. For Israel, this is a daily reality. The proposal was presented without condemnation of Hamas, without condemnation of the October 7 massacre.”Danon sparred repeatedly with Algeria’s ambassador Amar Bendjama who asked Palestinian people to “forgive us because this Council could not save your children…our sincere efforts, shattered against the wall of rejection.”