Why do some people think that the real ACIP made decisions “behind closed doors” in breach of federal law?
The usual suspects…
Did the Real ACIP Make Decisions “Behind Closed Doors” in Breach of Federal Law?
Why do they think that?
Because of a quote by Jeremy Faust in an article in MedPage Today that they are misinterpreting:
“Many people watching this will know, but some will not, the ACIP recommendations in the traditional ACIP where it was functional, came after a long process behind closed doors. And basically by the time the public meeting was happening, yeah, sure, the votes were almost always unanimous. That's because the decisions were really made in meetings.”
Former NIAID Chief Warns of ‘Shameful’ Federal Response to Measles
A quote from someone who was never even a member of the ACIP…
“The ACIP WGs (currently numbering 14) meet regularly – at least once a month – to undertake an extensive, in-depth review of all relevant data and to prepare draft policy recommendations for consideration by the full ACIP in open meetings.”
The structure, role, and procedures of the U.S. Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices (ACIP)
A quote from someone who was basically describing how a lot of the work was done at ACIP, using workgroups to investigate, discuss, and clear up any issues before things came up for a vote.
But does that literally mean that ACIP members made their decisions before the official, public meetings?
Of course not!
How do we know that?
Well, for one thing, the votes weren’t always unanimous.
Each year, there were more than a few contested votes.
In fact, between 2005 and 2019, about 19% of the votes were contested.
What does that mean? It means that some members voted no, because the decision had not already been decided.
What else?
“The work group presents its findings to the entire ACIP at several meetings before ACIP members vote on whether to recommend the vaccine and who should receive the vaccine.”
Role of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in CDC’s Vaccine Recommendations
Most things were discussed at public ACIP meetings several times before they ever came up for a vote.
The rotavirus vaccine, for example, was discussed at four public ACIP meetings, and there was only a vote at the last one.
Lastly, being in a workgroup wasn’t a rubber stamp for a vaccine recommendation or vote!
So basically, the whole idea that the real ACIP made decisions “behind closed doors,” in a breach of federal law, is just more anti-vaccine propaganda that you should ignore.
And the only breach of federal law was in how RFK, Jr fired all of the ACIP members and switched them with his hand-picked replacements and their damage to the vaccine schedule.
Will they ever stop telling gross lies? It never ceases to shock me how their cult take their word for everything and then run around announcing it as "absolute truth."