‘By reinstating this Task Force, we are reaffirming our commitment to rigorous science,’ Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Aug. 14 said it is reviving a long-disbanded task force to improve vaccines, after facing a lawsuit funded by Children’s Health Defense, which Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. used to chair.
Health officials said they are reforming the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, which was disbanded in 1998 after producing a report.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will chair the revived panel. Members will include senior leaders from the NIH, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all of which are part of the HHS.
The task force is going to work with the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines, which is made up of government officials, attorneys, and others, and advises the government on vaccine injuries. It will regularly produce recommendations focused on developing, promoting, and refining vaccines for children that result in fewer and less serious adverse reactions than the currently available vaccines, HHS said.
The body will also look to improve research on and reporting of adverse reactions to vaccines.
“By reinstating this Task Force, we are reaffirming our commitment to rigorous science, continuous improvement, and the trust of American families,” Bhattacharya said in a statement. “NIH is proud to lead this effort to advance vaccine safety and support innovation that protects children without compromise.”
A reformed advisory group to the government said over the summer it would be analyzing the cumulative impact of vaccines on the childhood immunization schedule.
Congress created the task force in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.
Lawsuit
“I’m very pleased,” Ray Flores, an attorney who sued Kennedy, told The Epoch Times.
Flores has represented Children’s Health Defense, which Kennedy chaired through 2023, in multiple recent cases and has been its senior counsel. Flores sued Kennedy in federal court earlier this year over the latter’s alleged failure to report to Congress how he has worked to make childhood vaccines safer. Children’s Health Defense, which says its mission is to end childhood epidemics by “eliminating toxic exposure,” funded the suit.
