The plan to vaccinate all Americans, despite Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

From the article:

Professional medical societies, pharmacists, state health officials and vaccine manufacturers, as well as a new advocacy group, are mobilizing behind the scenes to preserve access for vaccines as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. works to upend the nation’s decades-old vaccine system, according to public health experts.

The groups are discussing ordering vaccines directly from manufacturers and giving greater weight to vaccine recommendations from medical associations. And they are asking insurance companies to continue covering shots based on professional societies’ guidance instead of the federal government’s, according to more than a dozen people familiar with the conversations, including some who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private discussions.

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The American College of Physicians, one group involved in the talks, said Kennedy’s recent changes to the ACIP and lack of transparency in the process “puts at risk decades of progress in vaccine development, access, and public trust, and contributes to confusion and uncertainty.”

If the panel departs from long-standing recommendations, “we will need to look elsewhere for reliable information guided by the best-available evidence to guide the use of vaccines,” said Jason Goldman, the group’s president, in a statement.

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The Vaccine Integrity Project, a recent initiative based at the University of Minnesota, is leading many of the discussions to explore alternatives with vaccine manufacturers, health insurers and medical associations. The project is consulting with, among others, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, the American Pharmacists Association, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, as well as insurance providers.

“We’ve had discussions across the board from everyone across the vaccine enterprise, from [research and development] to the person who delivers the needle,” said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious-disease expert who advised President Joe Biden’s transition team and helped launch the initiative. The project does not receive funding from industry; it has received an unrestricted gift from a foundation established by philanthropist Christy Walton, an heir to the Walmart fortune.

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Introducing a new player into the nation’s vaccine system promises to be complicated, given the patchwork of state laws and the federal government’s traditional role. Many state laws governing school entry requirements and vaccination requirements for hospitals and health care workers are often tied to ACIP recommendations. There are nearly 600 references or citations related to ACIP in the laws or regulations of 49 states, according to an analysis by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Some states are considering forming their own vaccine advisory groups. Officials from Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York are discussing a possible regional group for northeastern states, according to two state health officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because talks are ongoing.

Wisconsin said earlier this month it would continue to recommend the coronavirus vaccine because Kennedy-directed changes to CDC guidance “were not made based on new data, evidence, or scientific or medical studies, nor was the guidance issued following normal processes.”

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“Insurers are absolutely trying to find ways to cover services that are so widely understood as beneficial and proven,” said a former insurance industry executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid. “I wouldn’t want to be the first insurer to start to decline coverage for what are clearly incredibly important and valuable public health interventions.”